


And Then There Were None

by JustAHardyFool



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, Hogwarts Mystery
Genre: Aftermath of the First Wizarding War, Alternate choices character might make, Cursed Vaults, Deviation from Cannon, F/M, Good and Bad Slytherins, Identity Issues, Merula redemption, Muggle style violence, Puppy Love, Slytherin Path, Troubled kids, nothing sexual ffs, tags to be added as story progresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-07 15:26:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 25,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14673960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAHardyFool/pseuds/JustAHardyFool
Summary: During the First Wizarding War, an unfortunate young man named Jacob Bernard started his search for the Cursed Vaults at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy. He would not realize that his search would only fuel a growing obsession in him, and cause much destruction for those around him. Such consequences of his actions would finally come up to him, and he was eventually expelled. The aftermath of the incident left his family name tarnished, his peers distrustful, and he himself vanished.It was his younger sibling that had to face the repercussions of his actions.Effie Bernard must now navigate the landscape, amidst the wake of the First Wizarding War, the Cursed Vaults issue, the alienation from her peers, the appearance of Death Eaters and the loss of her brother.





	1. The aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr is slytherinyour-chambers <3

From the brick barrier, Effie stepped into Diagon Alley.

 

A sea of black robes filled the street as people bustled about. They walked amongst the assortment of shops lined side by side one another, each one distinct in its products or services.  A few streets ahead lay Flourish and Blotts, and further down was the Quality Quidditch Supplies. And if Effie squinted, deep in the alley lay the famous Gringotts Wizarding back, recognizable in its marble foundation that towered over the other buildings.

 

Many of the shops fixed colorful banners on the buildings, in celebration after the defeat of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, despite it being three years since the event. It seemed that even the weather itself had joined in on the merry festivities, with the summer sun beaming down upon the scene and the pleasant chirping of birds echoing throughout the street.

 

Effie gazed about the area, eyes wide in wonder as she took in the sights, as if seeing it for the first time. Though this actually wasn’t her first time visiting the place, it was her first time there  _alone_. Her parents insisted that she didn’t need to rush buying the supplies, that there were still a few more weeks left, but Effie insisted. The alley brought up bad memories for the whole family, and she argued that it was better to get on with it rather than dragging out the inevitable trip that would have thrown them all to a road down memory lane. Mr. and Mrs. Bernard relented, increasingly lost in dealing with their argumentative daughter. A vague recollection of her younger self accompanying her brother surfaced up, and she fought to repress the memory.

 

She clenched her jaw and shut her eyes _. Not today, don’t think about him_ , she thought to herself. While her thoughts often wandered back to her brother, she couldn’t afford to think of him today. It was her first year of Hogwarts, a special event, and no sadness would ruin that.

 

But still. Her brother’s easygoing laugh and his relaxed demeanor burrowed her mind. They’d often visit Diagon Alley and explore the area. At times they’d feel like getting raspberry ice cream with chopped nuts at Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour, other times they were up for a Pumpkin Pasty at Sugarplum’s Sweet Shop, and sometimes they just flitted from stall to stall to inspect what odd goods were offered. On her 7th birthday, he promised that he’d accompany Effie when it was her time to buy supplies for her first year at Hogwarts. They would have also gone to Magical Menagerie and she would’ve bought a beautiful black cat and named it-

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Effie snapped out of her thoughts and whipped her head to the direction of the voice.

 

A girl around her age stood in front of her. Brown skin peeked out from her robes and slightly greasy black hair cascaded around her shoulders. A few stray hairs covered her forehead, while a pair of glasses framed the girl’s dark eyes. Her face had an expression of concern etched onto it.

 

At the lack of reply, she shifted her weight and adjusted her glasses. “You looked gloomy there for a second.”

 

“Yes, I’m fine.” Effie straightened her posture and sported a bashful smile. At that moment, she felt embarrassment crawl up her at being caught in the middle of her rumination. This wasn’t how her trip was supposed to plan.

 

As if nothing awkward happened, the girl broke out into a wide grin. “I’m Rowan Khanna by the way! Judging by your robes, are you preparing for Hogwarts too?”

 

“Mhm, but it’s been a while since I’ve been here,” she scratched the back of her head, “I forgot where to start.” Truth to be told, she could have prepared to know her way around, but doing so reminded her of a certain someone.

 

Rowan’s face brightened. “I can help! I’ve been reading ‘Hogwarts: A History’ in anticipation of my first year,” she crossed her arms and beamed, “so I’m something of an expert on the subject.”

 

Effie chuckled. The girl was unapologetically nerdy and had impressively prepared for her upcoming school year. “All right then, ‘expert on Hogwarts’, where should I start?”

 

She twirled her thin finger and put a hand on her hip. “Start by finding all the books you need at Flourish and Blotts.”

 

“Okay then. Once I’ve bought them, do you mind if we meet up?”

 

Rowan’s grin grew wider. “Definitely! I mean, yea. I mean, I wouldn’t mind at all, just saying.”

 

“See you later then!” Effie said, slinging an empty bag over her shoulder.

 

The two girls waved at each other before they disappeared into the thick crowd.

 

Effie bit her lip as she forced herself to trudge by the too familiar shops where she and her brother used to hang out in. Her heart felt heavy in her chest as she passed by the ice cream parlor and the sweet shop. If she thought hard enough, she could imagine echoes of two siblings having a laugh somewhere behind the display windows. She reminded herself that he was gone and would want her to stay strong. No time would be wasted on basking in the past.

 

A positive atmosphere could be felt amongst the crowd today, hearty chattering filled the streets along with the impish grins of first years as they were accompanied by their parents to buy school supplies. It was such a stark contrast to what the area looked like before October 31st, 1981. Back when she was only eight years old, back when her father made sure she stayed closed to him whenever they were forced to cross through the streets, back when the distrust and paranoia was heavy in the hair. As she moved around the crowd, splotches of familiar red robes could be seen among black ones. Though they were much harder to spot, being located at alleyways or blending amongst the shoppers. Effie wondered if they were just merely tricks of the eye, for they disappeared seconds later.

 

The silhouette of Flourish and Blotts appeared and Effie quickened her pace until she finally reached the entrance. As soon as she pushed the door open, her senses were hit by the scent of old books and ink. Compared to the crowd outside, the bookshop was much more calmer, less populated. The few people that were inside talked in hushed tones or flipped through the stacks of books that were littered around the area.

 

Shelves and shelves of books covered the walls of the shops and Effie found herself gazing in wonder as she passed by them. The bright lights overhead illuminated the area further, harmonizing the store into a beautiful scene ripped out of a fairytale.

 

She was no novice to this area, but that never took away to the magic of it.

 

Whatever allure the area had, the bad memories began to  _taint_ it. Effie hurriedly purchased the books and left the shop. Just outside, she leaned against the windows.

 

The crowd in front of her had not thinned at all, and remained as thick and deep as an ocean. She supposed she wasn’t the only one that decided to buy Hogwarts supplies early.

 

Going through a bag she brought in one hand and the list of supplies in the other, she found that all books were complete. The rest of the list showed what other items she needed to buy.

 

“So a wand, cauldron, set of phials, telescope, and brass scales.” She let out a sigh and rested her head against the bookshop’s windows. “I should ask Rowan where to get the rest of this stuff.”

 

It took a while to find the girl, especially when she had to drag a heavy bag of books around, but she eventually found her.

 

“Thanks for your help Rowan, I was able to get all of my books,” Effie strung in between gasps for air. She wiped off the sweat from her forehead.

 

“Cool!” Rowan cheered, but then her expression turned sober and her gaze quickly shifted side to side. “Uh, I realized that I forgot to ask for your name.”

 

“My name is Effie Bernard, and I’d gladly offer you my hand if I didn’t have to carry this boulder around,” she said, pointing her chin to the bag filled with books.”

 

Rowan laughed. “Pleasure to meet you, Effie. You should’ve bought a cauldron first then put your books inside there.”

 

“Yeah, guess I wasn’t in the right state of mind today to think of that. Probably because I was too excited for Hogwarts.”

 

There was a voice at the back of her head screaming at how much of a horrible liar she was.

 

“Same here! I haven’t stopped staring at my acceptance letter since it arrived. Can I see yours?”

 

“Sure.” She handed her the letter. Rowan’s thumb brushed over the smooth surface with a certain fondness, her eyes drinking in the neatly written words written on it. Occasionally, she could be heard muttering the words ‘amazing’ and ‘cool’, which Effie found cute. Eventually she handed the letter back.

 

Rowan gestured to her cauldron and bag. “I already got my supplies, but my mum just gave me enough just to buy something special.”

 

Effie’s eyebrows rose when she emphasized the ‘something special’.

 

“I want to let everyone at Hogwarts know that I’m a serious intellectual who is well on her way to becoming Head Girl. So what do you think I should get? A scarf, sweater, or hat?”

 

Effie crossed her arms and bit her lip, gaze wandering to the sky. After a few seconds, she replied, “A smart scarf. It’s noticeable enough, but not too much unlike the sweater or hat. You wouldn’t want to look like you tried too much, I feel like the other students would make fun of someone who does. So a scarf would be the best choice for giving the impression of someone who puts intellectual effort and is proud of it.”

 

“Wow…” Rowan blinked rapidly. “Great idea! Scarves makes anyone look scholarly, basically.”

 

“Basically.”

 

“Ever considered being a fashion designer?” when Effie just shrugged, she continued on, “While I get my clothes you should get your wand from Ollivanders.”

 

Rowan turned around but Effie placed a hand on her shoulder and raised the list of supplies. “Wait, where can I get the rest of this stuff?”

 

It took a while to complete the list, but she checked off every single item except a wand. The girl inhaled and marched towards Ollivanders, dragging a bag filled with school supplies. Pressing her shoulder against the door, she pushed it open.

 

 _I can’t believe I’m in Ollivanders, this is where everyone gets their first wand_. Despite the nervousness she felt, Effie did not let it show, opting instead to stride in and hide behind a mask of confidence.

 

The shop had a tiny lobby, a fine layer of dust coating every surface. A narrow staircase led the second floor, with the same shelves still occupying the area. All the shelves contained boxes – presumably holding wands. Ahead was a counter with stacks of paper resting on it and a man standing behind it. He had wavy gray hair and wrinkles littering the surface of his skin. At the sight of her, he nodded politely.

 

“Hello, the name’s Garrick Ollivander. Here to receive your first wand, yes?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“I have just the thing.” He took out a box and laid it on the counter. Opening it revealed a light brown wand resting among plush covering. Carefully taking it out, he held it before her. “Applewood, dragon heartstring core, nine inches, rigid.”

 

At her hesitation, he insisted, “Go on, give it a twirl.”

 

Effie picked it up and stroked her thumb over it. She raised it up and made a slight movement with her wrist. A gust of wind made the papers whirl around and some latched onto her robes. One hit her right smack in the face. Effie brushed them away from her – ripping the paper off her face while Ollivander chuckled – and stared at her wand as if it was a snake.

 

“Sorry for the mess, Mr. Ollivander.”

 

“It’s not your fault. The wand chooses the wizard, and that is clearly not the wand for you.” He took the wand back, placing it back in its box. The man disappeared into the back room, emerging with two boxes in his hand.

 

“I recall your brother exploded my favorite inkpot when he tried his first wand.”

 

Effie pursued her lips at the mention of her brother. Of course he’d get mentioned eventually.

 

“I see. Wands sure are a fickle thing, yes?”

 

Whatever attempt she had made to change the topic, it was futile. “Yup. His in particular was Maplewood, dragon heartstring core, ten inches.”

 

He was looking at the boxes now, carefully opening them as if they would break if mishandled. “A fine wand. Shame they snapped it in half when he was in expelled.”

 

She fidgeted, furrowing her brows and turning her head away.

 

Ollivander finally noticed her discomfort at the topic. “I understand that he ran away from home after being expelled, and has been missing ever since.” He said the sentence slowly, watching her expression as he continued.

 

Effie remained silent.

 

“That must have had a profound impact on you.” He was right. It did, but she would never admit to that openly. It would betray the vulnerability she felt, and she’d fall apart like her parents. There were some days where she’d find her mother sobbing on the kitchen countertop or her father stopping whatever he was doing midway and just be lost in thought for hours.

 

She’d never be like that. Looking Ollivander straight in the eye, she declared, “I’m determined to succeed despite what happened. I’ll get into Hogwarts to restore my family name and prove myself as a powerful witch, and I don’t care if others judge me for it.”

 

He paused for a while, seeming to reflect on what Effie said objectively. “Ah yes, that’s quite a goal you have there. That could lead you to do great things in the future.”

 

Of the two wands, he picked up an elegant, dark wand. “I have just the one for you. Ebony, dragon heartstring core, twelve inches long, and inflexible.”

 

Hesitating again for a moment, Effie finally picked up the delicate thing. It felt so soft underneath her touch, and when positioned just right, the polish gave off a beautiful sheen. She gave a small twirl this time.

 

She closed her eyes. A new sensation filled her. It originated from the wand and spread out to the rest of her body, warming her bones and refreshing her senses. The wand suddenly felt much lighter and much more comforting in her hands, as if it felt  _right_ that it should be there…  Letting out an exhale, she blinked.

 

Was it just her or did the room feel much clearer? She looked around. Everything was still the same, but something just felt _different_. In the corner of her eye, Ollivander looked satisfied. “Splendid! That’s just the wand for you.”

 

He placed the wand in its box and handed it over her. As Effie’s eyes glazed over the shop for the last time.

 

“I’ll be interested to see what path you choose.”

 

Choosing not to interpret that as something related to her brother, she paid him for the wand and bid him farewell.

 

At this point, she should probably meet up with Rowan and discuss the completion of buying their school requirements, and probably promises to meet up once they arrived at Hogwarts in September.

 

Scanning the crowd, she spotted a girl wearing an eye-grabbing article of clothing wrapped around her neck. Effie gulped, hoping that her friend chose a much more pleasing scarf, but upon closer inspection, she was unfortunately proven wrong.

 

What kind of scarf was that? Little fuzz balls dangled off of it and the colors chosen for it were atrocious. Maroon, Jade green, Orange, and pink clashed with one another and grappled for the viewer’s attention. Whoever made that scarf did not know what harmony was.

 

Effie kept her expression neutral as she approached her.

 

“Hey, Effie! How’d you like my scarf?”

 

“It’s… very unique.” Something vague but truthful enough would be a good choice to say. Then continuing with some encouragement, “You’ll look like the smartest first year in Hogwarts, I’m sure.”

 

Rowan seemed pleased with that. “It was your suggestion! I’ll be coming to you for future fashion advice.”

 

She forced a grin. “Lovely! Next time, take me with you so we can enjoy ourselves in the process.”

 

Rowan nodded, her gaze then seeming to be occupied by something. “Wait… Is that an Ebony wand?” She pointed to the object sticking out of Effie’s robe pockets.

 

Effie raised an eyebrow. “Yea, how’d you know?”

 

Grinning, she answered, “My family’s tree farm supplies wood for wands and brooms. That’s why I love staying inside and reading! It keeps me from going outside and  _farming_.” She made a disgusted expression at the last word.

 

She had to smile at the girl’s honesty.

 

Rowan’s grin seemed to drop slightly. “That, and the fact that I don’t have many friends.”

 

Effie paused. She never really had much magical friends, due to her living close to muggles. After the incident, wizards and witches viewed the Bernards more as an oddity to be gawked at and interrogated, rather than a family who experienced an unfortunate loss.

 

She remembered the countless times of people who came up to her and discussed the incident with a tone that didn’t sit well with her. Those conversations revolved around the wild conspiracy theories they had over Jacob’s actions. He must have done that to get the treasure inside Hogwarts. He must have done that as per Dark Lord’s orders. Some offered her parents condolences thankfully, but no one ever asked  _her_ how she felt about the matter.

 

And now there was this girl, Rowan, who was actually interested in her as a person, and someone she could probably relate to in non-conformity and feeling like an outsider. It was refreshing. It was fantastic. It was… freeing.

 

“We can be friends.” A hint of confidence shone through her voice.

 

“You don’t think I’m too weird? People think I’m too weird.”

 

“People say the same thing about me.”

 

Knitting her eyebrows, Rowan’s gaze travelled to the sky. “Huh. But why would anyone say that about you?”

 

“My brother is Jacob Bernard,” she said tonelessly. If she didn’t say it to Rowan now, it would come out eventually when they were in school. Better get over with it early.

 

Shock struck the girl’s face. “ _The_ Jacob Bernard who was expelled from Hogwarts for breaking the school rules in search of the Cursed Vaults?”

 

Recovering from the earlier shock, Rowan straightened her posture. “That was a massive story in the Daily Prophet, Effie. Everyone in the school will know about that.”

 

“I know. Everyone would think differently because of that.” Effie omitted the fact when she turned eleven, she obsessed over how people would think of her knowing she was the brother of the Cursed Vault hunter Jacob Bernard. Countless hours spent ruminating over that, until she realized this behavior was similar to her parents’ grieving, and she forced herself to stop.

 

“We’ll be weird together! What should I do if someone gives you trouble?”

 

“You mean if someone harasses me because of my brother?”

 

“Yup.”

 

Effie chewed on her bottom lip. This was the first time someone stuck up for her ever since the incident. Yes, maybe this Rowan individual was worth trusting. “Follow my lead. I can stand up for myself, but having someone by my side would be…”

 

“Would be what?”

 

“A first.”

 

Rowan looked at her differently. Embarrassment seemed to crawl up Effie again at her own display of sensitive feelings, when Rowan’s expression turned serious and she stood straight as a pole. “Understood. I’ll use my extensive vocabulary to verbally pummel anyone who attempts to besmirch your reputation.”

 

Perhaps she could put her faith into the girl? There was just something so honest, so genuine about the girl’s actions and words. Her obliviousness to some social etiquettes may have contributed to it too, for Effie held the belief that those who were sneaky, more _deceptive_ tended to be more on the charming side. Maybe Rowan’s whole quirky thing was a form of deception too, but she just wasn’t sure. It was bit risky to trust someone just because your gut says so, but maybe, just maybe, she’d give this one a shot.

 

Cracking a grin, her stomach felt warm as she patted the girl’s back. “Thank you so much, Rowan. You’re actually cool.”

 

Red spread across Rowan’s cheeks. “Me? Cool? That’s one thing I’ll have to add to my list of adjectives people have said about me!”

 

“You definitely are. I’m glad we met.” It didn’t sound as earnest as Effie wanted it to be, and she worried for a second whether Rowan would pick that up, but getting all sentimental was just out of her comfort zone.

 

Rowan just smiled. Her eyes softened, forming slight crinkles at the corner of her eyes as her whole body relaxed. “I’m glad we met too.”

 

Nodding, she continued. “It’ll be nice to see a familiar face on school. Especially one who knows Hogwarts so well.”

 

Rowan shrugged, pride blooming in her chest. “Guess all that preparation paid off, huh? I’ll be glad to see you on the Hogwarts Express.”

 

“You too!”

 

The two of them bid their farewells and parted ways, unknown to them that their first year in Hogwarts would be a wild ride.

 


	2. House Unity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Effie and Rowan get into a bit of trouble on their first day.

Students poured into the great hall, all quite nervous as they approached closer and closer to the front, where the Hogwarts Faculty stood. Candles hovered about, magically charmed that the wax would not drip off and the flames kept alight. They casted a beautiful glow over the entire hall, bathing everything in bright light.

 

Old students settled into their respective long tables. Slytherin on the far left, then Ravenclaw,  then Hufflepuff, and then finally Gryffindor on the right. All the first years were located at the front, excitedly waiting for their sorting while the older years watched with amusement and nostalgia.

 

A woman clad in elegant green robes and pointed hat approached the front of the stage. Her poise confident, her eyes so keen and observant. From what she’s observed, Effie deduced this woman to be Minerva McGonagall. “The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. All new students to the Great Hall! Before the welcoming feast, we must sort all first years into their proper houses. This is very important. While you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts.”

 

Family. Admittedly that reminded her of her own family, but now was not the time to be thinking about them. She redirected her attention to McGonagall’s speech. “There’s Gryffindor, the brave and  chivalrous. Hufflepuff, the kind and diligent. Ravenclaw, the witty and wise. And Slytherin, the cunning and ambitious. Each house has its own noble history, and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards.”

 

The faintest smile graced her expression. “I hope you all will be fine addition to their ranks.”

 

McGonagall started calling out students by alphabetical order, placing the sorting hat on them and having their houses announced. This process droned on and on until finally-

 

“Bernard, Effie.”

 

She nervously approached the stool at the front, whispers swirling around her. “Bernard? The same surname of that crazy vault hunter?”, “Let’s just hope madness doesn’t run in the family.” Many eyes were on her now, looking at her differently than the previous first years, some with expressions of curiosity, other with dislike, and yet others were just ambivalent.

 

Reaching the front, she sat down on the stool and the hat placed on her head. The sorting top atop her head muttered, “Hmm, very interesting, I haven’t seen one like this in a long time.”

 

A voice echoed in her mind. _Well, well, another Bernard. And shockingly, more similar to your brother than you’d think._

_The more pressing mystery is, will everyone ever stop mentioning him? Find out next time at Hogwarts._

_A deep laugh rang in her head._ _Let’s move on. You do exhibit some of the traits the four houses represent. Courage – or recklessness in your case, intelligence, loyalty, and ambition. What so you think?_

_Well, she hadn’t thought herself reckless, more just following what she felt was right.  Maybe she was intelligent, and there were different definitions for that, right? She wasn’t really interested in learning for the sake of learning, only if it furthered her goals. Herbology was a special exception though.  There was just something fascinating about the diverse range of fauna in both the Wizarding and Muggle world, and so many ways they can be used. Loyalty, to herself and to her family maybe? Not sure about that one. Ambitious, definitely. There were so many things she wanted to achieve, meet other Wizarding cultures, learn foreign flora, become a herbologist, or a healer, or even an_ _auror_ _. The possibilities were endless, and the only obstacle was how to get there._

_It seems you’ve made up your mind. So what house will it be?_

 

She answered with first house that popped into her mind.  _Slytherin_.

 

 _So I was right on the recklessness part, hm?_ The Sorting hat chuckled.

 

“Best be in Slytherin!” Magic encircled Effie’s robes, and green cloth slowly lined her uniform. A badge poofed into existence on the left side of her robe. On it the image of a grey snake lay at the center, surrounded by intricate designs and a banner with the words ‘Slytherin’ stitched at the bottom.

 

Polite, restrained claps erupted from the Slytherin table. While many had blank faces on, some turned away and some looked as if they tried their hardest not to let disgust creep on their faces.

 

Effie approached the table. When she sat down, the people sitting next to her scooted away. The rest of the sorting ceremony went by smoothly. Rich food lay atop the table, roasted chicken, soup, cooked fish and cheese laid atop. Their delectable odor wafting in the air and stimulating her appetite. Though she decided to restrain herself as the other students seem to have done, and wait for the sorting ceremony to finish first.

 

“Khanna, Rowan!”

 

Her head snapped at the mention of her friend. She observed the girl walk to the platform and be sorted. Rowan was unable to sit still, adjusting herself every few seconds. Her friend tapped her fingers on her leg and stared at the Sorting Hat above her.

 

“Slytherin!”

 

A smile appeared on Effie’s face as Rowan made a beeline for their table. She settled between an empty seat and glanced at Effie from afar. A wide grin appeared from her and she reciprocated.

 

Once the sorting was complete, Dumbledore made for the Owl-shaped podium, candles lit by the side of it and he rested his hands on the surface. “Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. The past few years have seen a great weight lifted from our world. The Dark Lord is no more, and the boy prophesized to defeat him, remains safe.”

 

He continued on, “Remember, while you are here, your triumphs will earn you House Points, while any rule breaking will lose you some. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup.

 

Her gaze travelled to the four hourglasses that lay side by side. Each one held different colored stones at the top, symbolizing the houses. Green for Slytherin, Blue for Ravenclaw, Yellow for Hufflepuff, and Red for Gryffindor.

 

The feast started, and the ravenous students finally tucked in. Animated talk and boisterous laughter filled the hall. Time passed by until finally, appetite sated and moods lifted, everyone rested peacefully.

 

Snape announced, “The feast has ended. All Slytherins proceed to their common room.”

 

Rowan tugged at Effie’s sleeve excitedly. “Let’s go! I can’t wait to see what our common room looks like.”

 

Snape led the group of first year Slytherins to their common house. Effie and Rowan stuck close to each other as they went down a flight of stairs. Turns out their common room was located in the Dungeons, an area located under the school. Torches illuminated the dark area as the students walked by them. The group reached a supposedly bare stretch of a stone wall.

 

Snape muttered, “Hydrus.”

 

A passage magically appeared where the stone wall used to be, stretching all the way to a greenish room.

 

Turning to the group, he said, “And that is your password for the common room. Don’t be idiotic enough to give it away to non-Slytherins.”

 

They stepped into the room. Tall windows looked out into the lake, serving as the light in the room and giving it a green tinge. Aquatic creatures swam by on occasion, a school of fish have just passed by. Going with the theme, the area looked more like a dungeon populated with dark or green furniture. Tapestries hung on the wall depicted Medieval-looking people - ancient Slytherins perhaps? A few students were even conversing with Merpeople through their hand movements.

 

Effie and Rowan huddled among the group of first years. Despite the location of the common room, the area was surprisingly warm.

Snape turned around, his gaze sweeping over the first years. Without as much as a ‘welcome’, he started talking. “There are rules you must know while you’re in this house. One, house problems stay within the quarters. If it does get out, you will all put on a front of house unity. Two, do not become predictable. Three, be careful. Older students distrust Slytherins due to the First Wizarding War. Protect yourselves from scrutiny and do as you must. Just don’t get caught.”

 

Silence swept over the students. They had lived through the war as mere children, and as such, don’t remember much of it. It was uncomfortable to think that because of the green on their robes, wary stares would be shot their way. They were the Slytherins. They had to stick up for each other when no other house would.

 

“If you have any questions or problems,” Snape continued, “approach your prefects or the Head. I advise you not to break any rules or severe punishment will be delivered.” He gave one more sweeping gaze of the students - his eyes lingering to Effie - before he left. Soon after, the group dispersed.

 

Rowan gawked at the room before her. “Looks like a scene ripped straight from my novels.” Turning to her friend, she said, “Would you like to hear an exhaustive history of our house, including a comprehensive biography of our house founder?”

 

“For now, let’s just take it all in.”

 

“It’s incredible isn’t it? Even better than I imagined.”

 

“It really is amazing. Those windows are secure, right?

 

A third year leaning against the wall groaned. “I can’t believe they even let you in here after your mental brother got expelled, and ruined Slytherin's reputation.”

 

“Effie will be an outstanding Slytherin. Too bad you aren’t considering you’re bullying first years.”

 

“Whatever. I’ll be keeping an eye on both of you.” He resumed reading his book.

 

Rowan turned to her friend. “Sorry. I know you asked me to follow your lead months ago, but I can’t let anyone talk to my friend like that.”

 

“Thanks, Rowan. Something tells me that won’t be the last time. Have you had a chance to look at your timetable?”

 

“Yes! Can you believe it? Herbology with Professor Sprout, Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall…” she turned to Effie. “What are you most looking forward too?”

 

“Charms class. I’ll learn as many as I can there.”

 

“Then you’re seriously lucky, tomorrow that’s our first class. See you there.”

 

Much to their disappointment, the two girls did not share the same dorm. Effie shared hers with four other Slytherins that refused to talk to her. More often than not, she’d find them whispering whenever she was around, as if Effie was a ticking time bomb. Rowan suffered the same alienation. At first, the other girls would entertain her attempts to initiate conversation, but they would eventually get weirded out by Rowan’s quirks and cut any talks as quick as possible.

 

The two girls would then hang out in the hallways of the Slytherins’ Girl Dormitories, talking away about their lives, likes, school, interests, and aspirations. Eventually they would find that much time had passed, and they would retire to their dorms.

 

The next day, students poured into a classroom. Two rows of wooden tables can be seen on both sides with a wooden bench located behind them. There was space between that served as a walkway to Professor Flitwick’s table. Speaking of said professor, he stood upon a thick book.

 

“Pleased to meet you Professor Flitwick. I’m looking forward to Charms.”

 

Up close, she got a proper look of him. He was short, and dressed smartly. His brown hair was parted down the middle and smoothed over, and his suit appeared to be tailored and fit just to his proportions. A trimmed mustache rested on top his upper lip and some round spectacles framed his eyes.

 

“You’re Miss Bernard! If you’re anything like your brother, you’ll do just fine. He was one of my most skilled students.

 

Flitwick knitted his eyebrows together, a slight frown tugging his face. “That being said he was also one of my most rebellious students…”

 

His gaze returned to Effie, seeming to intensify. “Are you going to follow the rules?”

 

Effie bit the inside of her cheek. Making a promise when she wasn’t sure herself would be pure dishonesty, but at the same time she had to give the professor some sort of reassurance. “I’ll do my best to follow the rules, but I can’t make any guarantees.”

 

Flitwick’s expression relaxed. “Very well then. Please have a seat, Miss Bernard. Class is about to begin.”

 

“Welcome to your very first Charms class at Hogwarts. I will be your instructor, Professor Flitwick. Please pay close attention to the instructions, and take great care in practicing the spells you learn. Today, we’ll be learning the Lumos Charm. This charm is useful in dark places, whether you are searching in a shadowy room or looking for hidden dangers.”

 

He smirked. “Or trying to find a roll under the sofa.”

 

Adjusting himself into a stance - feet apart and facing away - arms extended and wand pointed, he boomed, “Lumos!”

 

The tip of his wand glowed, the light so bright that some of the students turned their heads away. Flitwick muttered something else and the light from the wand died out. “Now, onto the lecture.”

 

Some students took out parchment and quills, immediately jotting down what the professor was teaching. Some held an open book in one hand, and a wand in the other, while some were content to just listen. Curiously, some already appeared to be tired, their movements slow and lazy.

 

Effie couldn’t help but notice that she and Rowan were the only ones that were not Gryffindors in the class.

 

Rowan’s hands wasted no time in cataloguing various parchments of information and notes. Upon seeing her friend peek at her, she grinned. “I have catalogued my notes by subject and sub-subject.”

 

Flitwick tapped his wand on the table, garnering the attention of the students. “Now I have a question, let’s see if anyone can answer.”

 

“What’s the counter-charm of the Wand-Lighting charm?”

 

Rowan raised her hand.

 

“Yes, Khanna. Stand up.”

 

She stood up. “The counter-charm is Nox, Professor. When casted, it extinguishes the light coming from the wand’s tip.”

 

“Good answer. Five points to Slytherin.” This earned glares from the Gryffindors in the room. Rowan felt uncomfortable with their glares boring into her, until she felt Effie’s warm hand on hers. She sat down and the lesson resumed.

 

Eventually, when the professor felt that what they learned was sufficient, he announced it was time to cast the charm.

 

“Now you all try it. Remember the proper hand gesture and word enunciation.”

 

Flitwick got into the proper position. Effie observed the angles of his arms and the grip he had on the wand. Glancing to the side, she watched Rowan, assuming the girl knew how to do it.

 

Her eyes flickered between the words in the pages. When she felt that her knowledge was sufficient enough, Effie grabbed her wand. Adjusting her grip tightly but not too tight, she waved her wand in the air, muttering, “Lu-mos!”.

 

Lemon-yellow light sparked from the tip of the wand. Looking around, she found that she was the first to accomplish the charm. Some students stared at her for a moment then resumed studying the charm.

 

“Well done, Miss Bernard. That’s the best execution of Wand-Lighting Charm I’ve seen from a first year in quite some time. Ten points to Slytherin.”

 

“Nice work, Effie. I read everything I could on the Wand-lighting Charm, and yours was still better. You’re a natural.”

 

“Thanks, though I’m quite nervous with our next class. Snape looks strict.”

 

Rowan stroked her chin. “Some of the other students said he was snappy.”

 

A sudden thought popped into Effie’s head. “Though those students weren’t Slytherins.”

 

“Are you saying he’s more lenient with his own house?”

 

“Yep, it’s unfair, but that’s that.”

 

As students left for the exit, she heard a couple of Gryffindors grumble. “The only two Slytherins in class and they hoard all the points.”

 

“That went well,” Rowan muttered as they walked out of the classroom.

  
“Think about it this way, we, the only two Slytherins, were the only ones to get points from his class!”

 

She shrugged. “Yea, but then all those Gryffindors were glaring at us.”

  
“It’s because of the long standing house rivalry between the two, please don’t take it so personally. It could have been any other Slytherin, and they would have reacted the same.”

  
“I suppose so,” Rowan said in an unconvinced tone, hugging her books closer to her.

 

Effie, unperturbed, continued on. “They’re just jealous of your intelligence, Rowan. Who else would stay up late at night just to read about Study of Ancient Runes?”

 

“We don’t even get that until second year.” A small smile finally tugged at Rowan’s lips.

 

“Exactly. So just do what the smartest witch of her year would. Continue being herself.”

  
The two walked around the corridors for a while, chatting away until Rowan said she would study in the library for a bit. Effie bid her goodbye and the two went their separate ways. While her friend went for the library, she would just explore the castle and familiarize herself with the locations.

 

Much later, as Effie walked along the dungeons, she spotted Rowan with… another Slytherin? She had messy brown hair that appeared to be poorly chopped due to amount of strands that stuck out. The front of her fringe was colored a lighter shade of brown. Black eyeshadow covered her eyelids and was smoked out, giving emphasis to her violet eyes.

 

The other girl seemed to be harassing Rowan. “Admit it!”

 

“I can’t!” Rowan appeared to be distraught.

 

The girl stuck out her bottom lip as she slammed her foot on the floor. “Say I’m the most powerful witch at Hogwarts.”

 

“It’s logically impossible! I’ve made numerous lists of the most powerful witches at Hogwarts based on multiple factors.”

 

“You’re less powerful than Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Madam Hooch, Madam Pomfrey, and every single seventh-year… You’re just a first year like me.”

 

The girl sneered. “I’m nothing like you.”

 

Effie stepped besides Rowan. “All right you two, that’s enough. There’s much better stuff to talk about,” she said in a stern voice.

 

A couple of Slytherin students passing by gawked at the scene unfolding before hurriedly heading for Potions Class. So much for House Unity. Not that Effie minded. Her friend was more important than being the center of gossip again.

 

The girl’s stare snapped to Effie. “Who do you think you are?”

 

Rowan piped up. “Effie is the one that should be claiming to be the best witch. Professor Flitwick said she cast the best Wand-Lighting charm of any first year.”

 

Her lip curled in disgust. “Effie? Now I know exactly who you are. You’re Effie Bernard. Your brother lost his mind, disgraced his house, got expelled from school, and was never heard from again.”

 

She marched up to Effie’s face and said in a venomous tone, “The Sorting Hat should be burned for putting you in Slytherin.”

 

Effie blinked and took a few steps back. “Uh, who are you?”

 

“Merula Snyde. First Year Slytherin. The best witch at Hogwarts. I overheard the professors whispering about you at the feast. I suppose you think you’re better than me, huh?” Merula narrowed her eyes and smirked. “I should put you out of your misery before you ruin Hogwarts like your brother did.”

 

“Look. I don’t want any trouble.”

 

“You don’t have a choice.”

 

Effie sighed. “You’re being a bit dramatic right now, projecting my brother’s actions onto me.”

 

Snape appeared besides the two of them. “Bernard. I knew you’d be trouble.” Where’d he come from? He just appeared out of the blue. Though most likely they were too busy dealing with Merula to notice him approaching them.

 

Merula was jolted. “Professor Snape!”

 

“Merula was harassing my friend, Professor.”

 

The neutral expression on Snape never wavered. “Get to Potions Class.  Be thankful you aren’t headed to detention.”

 

Effie tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. Right, she violated the three rules Snape had told them about. To be fair though, it was Merula that started the whole thing. She was just rushing in to help her friend.

 

Snape continued to walk pass them, making a sharp turn to the right and into the potions classroom. Merula followed after him, quickening her pace to match Snape’s long strides.

 

Rowan turned to Effie. “Thanks for standing up to me.” With a sigh, she added, “I’m glad you and I are both in the same house.”

 

She nodded. “Did you hear what Merula said? The professors were supposedly talking about me. Merlin, I hope it’s not about my brother.”

 

“I don’t know, but we better get to class. We’re enough trouble as it is.”

 

In the potions classroom, shelves and shelves of picked animals floated inside glass jars. A small door occupied the side of the classroom and a blackboard lay at the front. The temperature here was much lower, more so than the common room.

 

The other tables were full. The only one that had empty chairs left was the one where Merula was seated. Effie and Rowan glanced at each other with frowns before they settled into the chairs next to Merula. Rowan sat at the far end while Effie had to deal with sitting next to the bully.

 

“This is your first Potions Class, and based on the bewildered look in your eyes, this could very well be your last. Unlike your other classes, this is not a place for foolish wand-waving and intolerable screeching of mispronounced incantations. You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making.” Snape kept his composure steady. He was a tall, thin man with sallow skin and dark, intense eyes. Dressed in black robes and shoulder length hair greasy, he almost resembled a bat.

 

“Ensnare the senses. Bewitch the mind. And most importantly, keep your mouths shut,” he emphasized the last part.

 

“Today you will produce a simple Cure for Boils potion. Know that I expect perfection, and know that there will be severe consequences for failing to meet my expectations.”

 

Merula turned to Effie and sneered. “You’re already guaranteed to fail this class.”

 

“…I didn’t even do anything yet.”

 

She snorted in response and went back to her potion.

 

Rowan sighed. “Ignore her. After getting reprimanded by Snape, we need to brew this potion perfectly.”

 

“The lesson starts. To begin to brew for Cure for Boils, your technique must be perfect. Watch me.”

 

Snape turned around and went to work on a cauldron. All the students stood up and approached his vicinity, taking out parchments and quills. As Snape moved his wand about in careful, precise motions, test tubes floated up and gracefully tilted themselves to pour their contents on the cauldron. With another calculated flick of his wand, the test tubes settled back on the rack.

 

He continued this process for a while, scanning the table for the essential ingredients and pouring them into the cauldron in exact amounts. The cauldron would occasionally flame up and cackle, purple energy erupting inside of it.

 

Merula would occasionally make disparaging comment to Effie and Rowan, unable to leave them alone, seemingly. But there were times where she would be quiet and concentrate on Snape’s demonstration. Rowan would talk here and there, stating that Merula kept scowling at her, presumably due to what happened earlier.

 

Snape turned around. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Focus.” Despite saying that to everyone in class, his sharp glare bored into Effie.

 

The session went by smoothly despite that. The students finally worked on their potions, adding ingredients and reading up on the instructions.

 

“Finish your potions quickly. I want to see how poorly you executed this recipe.”

 

Rowan stuck her face near the cauldron, face twisted in concentration as she tilted the test tube towards the opening. Effie’s eyes bore into the book, skimming the words for vital information which she absorbed. Merula did the same.

 

Effie would occasionally glance at Merula’s work. “Staring won’t make your potion better than mine,” the latter would retort.

 

After quite a while, most of the students had made good progress with their potions. Most only needed to accomplish a few more steps - either by adding in the remaining ingredients or stirring the cauldron. “I’m eager to see each one of your attempts,” Snape deadpanned.

 

Effie poured in the last of the ingredients into the cauldron. With a flick of her wand, the liquid inside the cauldron turned pink.

 

Rowan clapped her hands together. “Congratulations, Effie. You did all the steps so well.”

 

The liquid, however, kept bubbling, rising to the top of the cauldron until it poured down the sides. Sparks would cackle from the liquid and crackle, as if it was a firework.

 

Effie moved her chair back, furrowing her brows at the unexpected behaviour of the potion. “Wait, what’s happening?”

 

“Did you add Bulbadox Powder? From my studies, this looks like the beginning of an explosive reaction.” Rowan scooted her chair away as she chimed in.

 

“Explosi-?!” The cauldron burst, the sound of metal breaking booming across the room. Effie and Rowan shielded their face as the contents of the cauldron splattered on the table. Heads snapped to their direction and the whispering started.

 

“Congratulations. You have cured the table from boils.” Merula smirked.

 

Snape’s footsteps were getting louder and louder. Effie couldn’t bring herself to look at him and remained her gaze on the shattered remains of the cauldron.

 

“You should have never been allowed inside my classroom, Bernard,” Snape spitted. Sneaking a glance at him, she could see his balled up fists and his eyebrows lowered into a glare. “Not since your brother have I seen such a reckless Slytherin.”

 

“Ten points from Slytherin.” She could feel the glare of the Slytherins in the room boring at her, yet they watched, curious to see what would happen next, as if this was entertainment for them as well.

 

Effie balled her fists. “Sir, I think Merula did something to my cauldron.”

 

“Do you have proof?”

 

She hung her head. “No.”

 

“Then take responsibility for your own incompetence, Bernard.”

 

“I would, but Merula threatened me and my friend, and said she would do something to make sure I failed in potions.” Despite her head being lowered, Effie managed to hiss this sentence from clenched teeth.

 

Snape turned to Merula, yet the expression in his face indicated that he didn’t believe in the accusation. “Is this true, Miss Snyde?”

 

“Absolutely not, Professor. Bernard is clearly just as mad and driven to ruin Hogwarts as her brother, and a terrible liar to boot.

 

Snape nodded, seemingly satisfied with the explanation. “Your family has represented Slytherin well, Miss Snyde. I’ll be watching you to make sure you uphold that.”

 

Effie bit her tongue. So he asks her for proof but when it comes to Merula’s testimony that was just as lacking in evidence as hers – anyone can lie! – he believes her.

 

Rowan nudged Effie’s shoulder. “Good thing you told him that. He would’ve taken more house points if you hadn’t.”

 

Merula rested her head over her palm, leaning in closer. “It’s only going to get worse, Bernard. You should have known that coating your cauldron with Bulbadox powder would make the potion explode. I certainly did.”

 

“So  _that’s_ how you sabotaged my potion, you bloody hag. Couldn’t wait to rub it in my face on how you accomplished that, huh?” Her head was flushing at this, veins throbbing in her neck. Effie took in a deep breath, calming down. “Seriously, what’s your problem with me? We’re both in Slytherin. You just cost us house points.”

 

“I’d rather lose House Points now that have you ruin Slytherin forever. Now, there’s no doubt that I’m the most important first year, and you’re nothing but a disgrace like your brother.”

 

Effie sighed. “So that’s what it’s also about.”

 

Before they could continue, the sound of Snape’s voice filled the room “Dismissed. I’ve had enough of all of you for one day.”

 

Gathering her stuff, Effie marched out of the room with a worried Rowan trailing behind her.

 


	3. Snared by Devil's Snare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little trick endangers the lives of two students. They barely escape.

A student passing by stopped the both of them in your tracks. “You’re Bernard right? Prefect’s orders for you to go to the Common Room.”

 

Effie and Rowan looked at each other, curiosity and weariness creeping on their faces.

 

On the way there, another student stopped them. His loose robes had a red stripe on them, indicating he was a Gryffindor. But for a supposedly ‘courageous’ house, he looked anything but it. He had a scrawny build and a nervous expression displayed on his face. Blonde hair was smoothed into place and his dark eyes gazed at Effie’s ear, he was unable to make proper eye contact it seemed. “You’re Effie Bernard, right?”

 

“Yes. Who are you?”

 

The boy’s fingers fidgeted. “Ben Copper. I overheard some Slytherins saying you stood up to Merula Snyde. I just want to thank you for that.”

 

Rowan tilted her head. “They were saying that?”

 

“Yea. I also may have saw the encounter between you three in the hallways.” As if realizing that sounded weird, he quickly added, “I’ve been following her so she couldn’t sneak up on me, and if she sees me, I’ll have a chance to run away.”

 

Knitting her eyebrows together, Effie pondered for a moment. “She was bullying you too, wasn’t she?”

 

Ben nodded. “She tormented me the entire way on the Hogwarts Express. Kept threatening me and calling me a Mudblood.”

 

The two girls launched into a tirade about how they were both sorry that happened to him and he didn’t deserve that.

 

Ben just shook his head sadly. “I think her obsession with being the best witch in our year makes her think she has to impose her will on us to prove it.”

 

He raised his head, looking at Effie with renewed hope in his eyes. “I’m just relieved someone stood up to her. I couldn’t do that. It’s a joke that I somehow got put in Gryffindor.”

 

Effie placed a hand on his shoulder. “Everyone is afraid of something, Ben.”

 

“Unfortunately, I’m afraid of everything. I come from a Muggle family so this is all new and scary to me.”

 

“Relate to the new and scary part, and I’m from a wizarding family too.” She patted his shoulder. “I’ll try to help you whenever I can, okay?”

 

Ben broke out into a grin. “Thanks, Effie. You too, uh-” As if he remembered the existence of another person, he turned to Rowan, scratching the back of his neck.

 

Miffed, she answered hastily. “Rowan. Rowan Khanna.”

 

He nodded, fixing the school books he was carrying. “I’ll see you two around.”

 

The two girl resumed their journey to the common room. A million thoughts ran through Effie’s head about the confrontation with their prefect. What was going to happen? Is their prefect going to lecture them about about the lost house points? That wouldn’t go well.

 

Stepping into the common room, Effie nervously tugged at her sleeves. A student was approaching them, his shoes clicking as he did. He was taller than the two, being a good half a head taller. His sleek brown hair was parted in the middle and gelled down to prevent any strands out of place. This student wore the regular Slytherin robes, but a badge with the word ‘ prefect’ was attached near the house badge. Their prefect had a cold air about him, boring an icy, dark stare onto Effie.

 

There was something unnerving about their prefect. Maybe it was the fact that he resembled more like a statue than an actual human being with that blank expression of his.

 

“You already lost Slytherin ten house points?!” He bared his teeth at them, pinching the bridge of his nose. Now he looked more human. “We’re in fourth place now. What happened?”

 

The prefect exhaled and straightened his posture. He breathed in deeply and said in a much calmer voice, “Hold on, I forgot to introduce myself. Felix Rosier, your prefect. It’s my job to keep order in the house and help first years like you with your problems. A very important role I must say.” A hint of pride could be noticed in his voice when he said the last sentence.

 

“He says that every time he introduces himself to a first year!” a student yelled from the fireplace area. Laughs erupted from their group, and Felix shot a glare towards their direction. They toned town their laughs into hushed giggles, and he turned his attention back to Effie and Rowan. The two girls shared a cheeky grin.

 

Felix cleared his throat and adjusted his tie. “Considering what your brother did to Slytherin’s reputation, I should have kept watch on you.”

 

Effie’s grin dropped. “I know my brother committed those terrible things, but I want to be a credit to our house.”

 

“We all make mistakes Effie. Of course, we don’t all make mistakes that cost Slytherin ten house points,” he said casually. “In any case, Professor Snape already sent you a letter directly to our common room.”

 

She dropped her shoulders. “Why couldn’t he just send it to me in person?”

 

“Probably because he despises you.” he then added, “Snape hates everyone, so I wouldn’t take it personally, but I would read that letter immediately.”

 

Effie took the letter and scanned it.

 

_Bernard, I have discovered evidence that your potion may indeed have been tampered with._

_While it does not prove your innocence, it does cast doubt on my belief that you are hopelessly incompetent._

_Bring me a jar of pickled slugs from the Potions Storeroom and I’ll consider restoring your house points._

_Snape._

 

At the bottom of the letter, it indicated the directions to the Potions Storeroom. Effie grinned and lowered the letter. She glanced between Felix and Rowan and excitedly blurted, “Snape says he’s considering restoring those house points if I do his task!”

 

Rowan turned to her friend. “Want me to go with you, Effie? It’s the least I can do after you told off Merula.”

 

“Sure. And thanks, Rowan. You know your way around the castle better than I do.”

 

Felix sighed in relief. “Get onto the task, then. Quickly before he changes his mind.”

 

The three parted their ways, but Effie stopped and turned to the prefect. “Wait. Has Snape ever done this before?”

 

Felix furrowed his eyebrows and stared at them. “You mean, take back house points he took?”

 

“Yea.”

 

He suddenly looked contemplative, pressing his lips into a small frown. “Well, no actually.”

 

“Thought so. This is a bit suspicious, honestly.” She held up the letter to both of their face, pointing to the bottom of the letter. “Also, I don’t see a signature on this letter.”

 

Taking a step closer, Felix adjusted his prefect badge. “To be fair, this is the first time I’ve heard of Snape giving back taken house points. This could be a fake letter, as you suspect, or an actual letter from him. We have no past letter to compare that too.”

 

Rowan nodded. “He’s right.”

 

Effie sighed. Crossing her arms, she closed her eyes and contemplated whether that could have been from Snape, or a trick from a certain Slytherin bully. The prefect had a point, however, this was a bit suspicious considering the incident happened only a few hours ago. Was Snape the type of person to change his mind quickly? She didn’t know. There were too many unknown variables in this problem.

 

“Get to it before he changes his mind,” Felix snapped irritably.

 

She threw her hands in the hair, eyes snapping open. “Okay, okay. Let’s go Rowan.”

 

The Potions Storeroom was located at the end of the hallway in the East Tower, according to the instructions. Rowan definitely found that suspicious.”

 

“Alright, this is where the directions tell us to go.” Effie folded the letter and stuffed it in the pocket of her robes.

 

Rowan rubbed her chin, narrowing her eyes at the door. “I always thought it was located in the Tapestry Corridor. I suppose there must be more than one.”

 

“Well, you heard Mr. Prefect, I have to get those house points back.” Effie mimicked his posture, pulling off an irritated expression and baring her teeth. Rowan laughed before they turned their attention to the storeroom.

 

The two pushed open the door and stepped inside. Darkness filled the room and their vision could only give them a faint outline of the objects in the area. A clicking sound could be heard behind them after Rowan stepped in.

 

“Ugh, I couldn’t see a thing. Why’d you close the door, Rowan? The light from outside can help us here.”

 

Rowan gripped the door’s handle and tried applying force to it. “I… I didn’t. It closed behind me when we stepped inside.” Giving the door another push, Rowan finally gave up and stepped back. “It’s locked.”

 

“Great, we’re locked in here. Okay first thing to do is cast the wand-lighting charm so we can at least see.”

 

Digging her wand from her robe pockets, Effie took out her wand. With a flick, she chanted, “Lumos!”

The want tip glowed and illuminated a tiny portion of the room. In front of her, weird vine-like things covered the wall completely. No other furniture could be seen in the area. Effie furrowed her brows. “I don’t see any pickled slugs. In fact, I don’t see any potion ingredients at all! What are those things?”

 

“A deadly plant called Devil’s Snare. Some fourth year Slytherins showed it to me when I first arrived.” That voice was all too familiar, and judging by its muffled quality, the speaker was outside the door.

 

“Merula,” Rowan gasped.

 

Merula continued. “It’s sensitive to light. If you’re really better at the Wand-Lighting Charm than me, then escaping would be no problem.”

 

Effie rushed to the door, wand still in hand. With one hand, she banged on the door as hard as she could. “Merula, you bloody psycho! Let us out of here!”

 

“I don’t know, Bernard. You were dumb enough to believe the fake letter I made. Slytherin doesn’t need any idiots.”

 

She hushed her voice, the tone taking on a much more ominous quality. “I told you things will only get worse for you.”

 

Rowan started banging on the door too. “You’re being ridiculous!”

 

“Not as ridiculous as Bernard when she blamed me for her failure in potions.”

 

Effie’s temper exploded. She shouted a few obscenities that made Rowan cringe. “When we get out of here-

 

“If you get of there. Something has to stop you from ruining Hogwarts. It may as well be Devil’s Snare.”

 

The sound of something slithering can be heard in the room. Effie and Rowan turned around. The vines were moving, and a thick one shot out and wrapped itself around Effie’s waist. Rowan screamed and backed away, panic in her eyes.

 

Smaller vines slithered towards Effie. She tried to tug herself free using rapid motions, causing more vines to wrap themselves around her ankles. Pulling herself towards Rowan, Effie tried waving her glowing wand at the plant, but another vine was faster and grabbed her arm. It tugged the limb away from the smaller vines.

 

“Rowan, help!”

 

That seemed to snap the girl out of her daze. “Merula is right about the Devil’s Snare being sensitive to light.” She turned to the handle and began turning it feverishly. “Use Lumos to hold it off while I call for help. With her other hand, she banged on the door as hard as she could.

 

Effie began tugging her body in every direction. The vines began squeezing their hold, and she could feel her bloody being cut off from her hands and feet. “Can’t you at least help me Lumos it off?!”

 

Rowan stayed silent. Swallowing, she muttered, “I… can’t. I’m scared. Y- you have to do this.” Breathing in, she screamed at the top of her voice. “Help! We’re trapped in here with Devil’s Snare! Someone help!”

 

Tugging her hand away with a burst of energy, Effie pointed the light at it and it retracted back into the darkness. “Lumos!”

 

The tip of the wand glowed brighter. Vines around her waist and ankle retreated. Catching a moment to breathe, another vine took this a san opportunity to wrap itself around her ankle again and tighten.

 

“Lumos!” She pointed the wand at her feet. The vines’ grip loosened at her ankles and they retreated.

 

Three thick vines zoomed towards her. Two wrapped themselves around her arms and torso, while one wrapped itself around her neck. These vines were stronger, and had an iron-grip that heavily restricted movement.

 

Panic surged through Effie as not a single sound came out of her throat, having the wind knocked out of her. She pulled her head back, but the vine was tougher. It glued her to a position and tightened its grip. Her windpipe clenched up and she reduced herself to moving her head side to side.

 

Energy zapped away from her the more it continued. She could feel her face being drained of color and her lips turning blue. Lightheadedness pervaded her thinking and her head swayed side to side. With the last of her energy, she pointed her wand at herself and said, in the barest hint of a whisper, “Lumos.”

 

The vines acted as if they had been burned and recoiled. Effie fell to the floor. A thud echoed out into the room and everything went quiet. Rowan froze, and hesitantly turned around to face the girl.

 

Effie was laying sideways, black hair splayed out onto the floor as her chest heaved up and down. Air filled her lungs and she took in some more in short bursts. Her hands crawled up and stroked her neck where the Devil’s Snare was choking her moments ago. A red mark pervaded her skin. Touching it made her grunt in pain. Color started to reappear back in her face, the bluish tint from her lips disappearing.

 

“What’s going on in here?” A voice boomed outside. The ground shook as someone approached the door. In one swift motion, the door slammed open and hit the wall. Rowan took a few steps back as a tall, big-boned man walked in.

 

“Gulpin’ Gargoyles, Slytherin! You two get away from it!”

 

Rowan glanced at Effie who was hyperventilating on the floor.

 

“Um, I think she can’t move for a while.”

 

The man sighed. “Let’s get yeh outta here.”

 

Effie’s arm was slung around Rowan as she slowed down her breathing to a normal pace. Her head still felt slightly dizzy, but it would have eventually went away. “You saved our lives. Thank you, mister.”

 

“Rubeus Hagrid at yer service. I’m Keeper of the Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Pleasure to meet yeh.”

 

“I’m Rowan Khanna, and this is my friend Effie Bernard.”

 

“Ah, yer friend’s the one everyone’s been talking about. Maybe trouble really does run in ‘er family. How’d you two end in in there?”

 

“A first-year Slytherin named Merula Snyde locked us inside.”

 

“She did?! What are yeh going to do?”

 

Effie raised her head and forced herself to meet his gaze. “Tell Dumbledore.”

 

“Do yeh have any proof?”

 

“The fake letter. But we can’t prove she’s the one who wrote it.”

 

“Professor Dumbledore would want to help yeh, but even he can’t do anything if yeh don’t have proof.”

 

“I’d head back to yer Common Room, an’ take some time to think. I don’t want the two of yeh getting into something you’ll regret.”

 

“Might also want to do something about those robes.” He pointed at Effie’s robes. Tears littered throughout the fabric, notably where the Devil’s Snare broke through it.

 

Rowan nodded, adjusting the arm of her friend slung around her shoulder. “Thanks, Hagrid. Hopefully we’ll see you again.”

 

“Yeh certainly will.”

 

The trip to the common room was met with silence. Effie was too busy recovering from the situation and was adjusting her breathing. The pain in her throat eventually left, but the bruises remained, remaining as red as ever. Rowan looked ahead, occasionally turning to her friend and asking if they should head for the Hospital Wing instead. She shook her head and mentioned that they had to go the Common Room instead.

 

Inside, Felix spotted them, his eyes widening as he took in the sight. “Bloody hell! What happened to your robes?”

 

Rowan spoke up. “Devil’s Snare.”

 

“Devil’s Snare?! What happened with Professor Snape?”

 

“It was a trick, Merula faked the note and trapped us in a room with them.”

 

“What is it with her and that girl?”

 

Effie spoke up, grunting as she rose to meet his gaze. “I think she’s threatened by me, but that’s only a theory. She probably hates that I also stood up to her.”

 

His tone turned stern. “And I take it you once again don’t have any proof?”

 

“The fake letter from Snape. But again, I can’t prove she’s the one who wrote it.”

 

“Well you can’t go around the castle like that, Snape will have a fit. People already look at you like you’re mad because of your brother.” his tone softened when he continued. “I’ll get you to the Hospital Wing.”

 

“But, I might miss Flying Class.”

 

Felix shook his head. “In that condition? You’ll fall to your death. This’ll only take a few minutes.”

 

Rowan hesitantly removed the arm slung around Effie’s shoulders for support. “Can you walk?”

 

She placed a foot forward, arms outstretched, before she stumbled forwards. Felix quickly leaned forward and caught her by the arm. He held her up as Effie straightened her posture, and as she did, her school robes brushed aside to show the same red bruises at her legs. The three stared at them for a brief moment.

 

“Guess you can’t. Let’s go to Madam Pomfrey.” Turning to Rowan, he said, “You go to Flying Class, and earn us some house points while you’re at it.”

 

She didn’t need to be told twice. Rowans scampered off, throwing glances at the two before disappearing from sight. Felix and Effie made the long trudge towards the Hospital Wing. They were both silent before Effie spoke up. “Can I… ask you something?”

 

He nodded. “What do you wish to know?”

 

“It’s about the fake letter. You said it was delivered to the Slytherin Common Room. Any chance you know who delivered it? Or how it was delivered?”

 

Felix pursued his lips, eyes closing in deep thought before he directed his attention to in front of them. “Someone handed it to me. Said it was from Snape, and to be given to you.”

 

“Any chance you knew who they were?” Effie asked in disbelief. This meant that there were two possibilities: Merula had an accomplice or she bullied someone into doing her bidding. The latter seemed far more likely.

 

“No. But she’s a girl, with black hair like you do, and it was covering half of her face. Didn’t catch her name, unfortunately. Adjusting his robes, he kept a steady gaze on the hallway in front of them. “You never told me what happened exactly in the room. You look beaten up, while Khanna...” He trailed off, and he didn’t need to continue. Effie knew what we was talking about.

 

Placing a hand on her neck, she cleared her throat. “It’s best if I start from the beginning. So we were there, outside the supposed ‘Potions Storeroom’. I stepped in first, with Rowan behind me. That’s when the door clicked shut and we couldn’t open it. Not knowing what else to do, I casted Lumos and looked around. What I saw scared me.”

 

Despite having his eyes glued to the hallways, Felix appeared to be listening closely. “Vines, huge, thick vines covered the wall,” Effie continued, “The worst happened when a voice - Merula’s - said it was Devil’s Snare. Said she got it from a couple of fourth years and told me that if I really was a powerful witch, I’d escape.”

 

An edge in her voice creeped up as she continued. “Fat chance. The vines grabbed me and I had to cast the charm repeatedly. The more I casted, the more there would be vines replacing the ones that held me. I begged Rowan to help me. But she said, she couldn’t, she was scared.” There was a hint of resentment when she said the last part. “So she banged on the door and I had to fend for myself. The vines got me good. One was around my neck and I - I”

 

“I almost died,” she said weakly.

 

Felix said nothing, but his skin paled.

 

“My head was getting light and my throat was burning. I thought, well, this was gonna be it! Death! But I mustered up enough energy to cast one more Lumos charm. All of them let go of me and I hit the floor.”

 

He blinked, then asking, “How did you two escape?”

 

“Someone heard us. Kicked the door open and walked in. Biggest man I ever saw. Said his name was Hagrid and he was the groundskeeper. After getting us out, he advised us not to do anything we might regret.”

 

“As he should. I understand you must be beyond furious from almost dying, and that Merula deserves retribution, but you must also see that getting vengeance would stoop you to her level. And worse, you might -”

 

“- lose house points?” Effie grinned.

 

Felix chuckled. “I was going to say you might get expelled, but that works too.”

 

At that point they reached the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey attended to Effie’s bruises while Felix oversaw them. It only took a few spells and a bitter-tasting potion for the girl to feel well again. The two parted ways, Effie off to her flying class while Felix to Herbology.

 

She was late to Flying class, but managed to earn Slytherin five points despite that. Rowan earned five points too, and hopefully that was enough to regain the ten points she lost.

 

In the courtyard, the two girls decided to play gobstones.

 

“Thanks for inviting me, Rowan. This is paradise compared to dealing with Merula and Snape. Hogwarts shouldn’t be about bullies,” Effie ranted, “and barely escaping death. It should be about learning magic and having fun.”

 

Rowan nodded. “Wait until you play gobstones, I play it all the time in the farm. Mostly because I’m not strong enough to help with actual farming. It’ll be fun to play with an actual person for once.”

 

Circles were drawn inside a circle, the shapes consecutively getting smaller. Overall, there were four circles drawn. Each player had fifteen glass marbles, an unpleasant colored liquid inside it. The two girls were seated on either side of the circle, leaning forward. In their eyes excitement glazed over as they took in the marbles and the circles.

 

Rowan leaned back. “Thanks for helping me adjust here, Effie.”

 

“Of course, it’s nice having a friend who understands me and is great at explaining Hogwarts.”

 

“I wish I can explain why Merula is such a bully though. I’ve been researching her family to see why she acts the way she does.”

 

“Let’s just relax, and you can tell me what you learned about Merula while we play.”

 

“Brilliant. Gobstones is the finest skill-testing manual dexterity in the world!” Rowan clapped her hands together. “It’s a bit like the Muggle game marbles, except that everytime a point is scored, the loser gets sprayed in the face.”

 

“Sprayed with what?”

 

“No one knows, but it smells awful!” The two girls giggled.

 

Eventually, they started on their game.

 

“Good luck, Effie. Only time someone ever beats me at gobstones is when I get distracted.”

 

So the game started. A plan sprouted in Effie’s mind on how she was going to win this game. Rowan had already given a weakness she had – was she that confident at winning or was it a misguided attempt to give her a fair chance? – that Effie would no doubt use against her. One thing she observed about her friend was that she took even the most outlandish statements easily. An incident that came to mind was the Merula incident, where the witch insisted that she was the most powerful witch at Hogwarts, and Rowan’s own reaction. So with that in mind…

 

As the two girls played, they’d converse with each other on occasion. With every topic Rowan had come up with, Effie would make a ridiculous statement mildly related to the topic. This would get a reaction out of her friend, and she would temporarily lose concentration, which Effie took advantage of. She was careful not to use her strategy too often, and entertain the topic at hand. One interesting tidbit she gleaned from the conversation  was that Merula’s parents were Death Eaters, and had been sent to Azkaban three years ago. That was definitely one reason why Snyde acted the way she does now, no psychology books needed.

 

Their game had come to an end. Rowan was covered in a foul-smelling substance, and the two girls laughed, pinching their noses and waving away the nasty smell.

 

“You beat me, dang. Pretty good for your first round of gobstones. Some people think Gobstones isn’t cool, but I’ve always considered it to be the thinking witch’s game.” Rowan leaned back, placing her palms on the cobbled ground. “Thanks for playing with me, especially, since you know…”

 

 _I’m not good at making friends._ The unspoken sentence hung between them.

 

“No problem, Rowan. You’re a joy to hang out with.”

 

“Yeah but most people think I’m either a useless weakling or an awkward nerd. You’re weird like me. No offense.”

 

Effie shrugged. “I take it as a compliment.”

 

An unwelcome voice piped in. “Well, isn’t this precious?”

 

They didn’t even need to turn their heads to know who that voice belonged too.

 

“Hello, Bernard. You are unfortunately looking well after wrestling with the Devil’s Snare.”

 

“Hello, Psychopath. You are unfortunately looking calm after almost killing someone.”

 

Merula ignored that statement. “While you were off playing with plants, I’ve done some research about your brother.” Effie raised an eyebrow. Who the hell walks up to someone and announces that they’ve done research on their sibling?

 

“Jeez, maybe stop being obsessed and get your own life? Though asking that is a bit of a feat considering no one wants to be involved with you.”

 

“Shut up, Bernard. You’re a danger to Hogwarts like him, and none of us will be safe until you’re gone.”

 

Rowan chimed in, “What are you talking about?”

 

“Elizabeth’s brother didn’t just get expelled for endangering the entire school in search of some imaginary vaults. He was immediately went missing, and the next time he was seen, he was working for Voldemort.”

 

Rowan’s eyes widened, a hand clasping over her mouth. “You can’t say that! You should call him He Who Must Not Be Named!”

 

Merula rolled her eyes. “I say what I want.”

 

Effie pointed a finger at Merula. “You’re lying about my brother. You don’t have any proof. Never thought you’d fall for hearsay, Merula.”

 

“Never thought you’d fall for a fake letter, Bernard, but here we are.”

 

Effie’s face flushed red.

 

“No wonder the professors were talking about you before the feast. They’re wondering if you work for the Dark Lord too.”

 

 _Calm down, Effie. She’s probably saying things she’ll think would get you worked up_ , she thought. “Why are you like this, Merula? No wait, scratch that. I don’t care. Leave me and my friend alone.”

 

Merula walked closer, hands on her hips and she bent down to send a vicious glare to Effie. The messy application of her black eye shadow was especially horrendous to look at, but Effie returned the glare. “Why don’t you just drop out of Hogwarts? Save Slytherin and your little friend here the embarrassment of being associated with you.”

 

“Oh, stop projecting. Everyone would love it if you dropped out. One less stereotypical Slytherin bully to deal with. You’re just afraid of me.”

 

“Afraid? I’ll duel you right now.”

 

Effie threw her head back. “You aren’t worth my time. Keep this nonsense to yourself.” Turning to Rowan, she nudged the girl to get up. Once they did, they both began to walk away.

 

“Don’t walk away from me!” Merula flicked her wand and muttered, “Flippendo!”

 

A loud bang ringed in the courtyard and Effie flew backwards, as if a force was pushing against her chest; her back collided with the ground and a groan erupted from her mouth.

 

“Learn a few more spells. Maybe next time you’ll put up a fight.”

 

“Merula is never going to leave us alone,” Rowan said in a half-hearted tone.

 

The wheels of Effie’s mind began turning, coming up with various options and weighing whether they would prove more a risk rather than a reward. Learning how some spells and dueling Merula would be a risky option no doubt, her reputation at Hogwarts was tarnished enough as it is and engaging in an illegal duel would strengthen the distrust the Hogwarts faculty would have at her, along with some students. However, standing up to Merula would gain the favor of many students. Her bullying reputation was widespread enough to cause some people to dislike her, surely. And then there was the issue of the girl’s trickery. How can she make sure she doesn’t get tricked again through some fake letter or flippendo’d to the ground? Also, how did Merula learn the Knockback Jinx already?

 

Too much thinking, not enough action. With a plan already made up, she turned to Rowan.

 

“I’ll learn some dueling spells, then duel Merula. Hopefully it’ll make her leave us alone. We could also use some information in the library.”

 

“What for?”

 

“So we don’t get fooled by any potential tricks she has, or we can make her leave us alone,” Effie said sweetly.

 

_Or we can come up with a nasty plan to get back at her. Salazar Slytherin would be proud._

After the events of Chapter 4, Salazar Slytherin was rolling in his grave instead.

 


	4. The Duel every First Year waited for

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two children brawl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first fic I've ever wrote, so I'd seriously appreciate any criticism or feedback, especially about character dynamics, those were always my weak spot :x

A few days went by without any incident or hard confrontations. Merula would keep her distance, occasionally shouting taunts at the two girls whenever they’d pass by each other. Rowan had the insight to report the Knockback Jinx incident to their prefect, hoping he would be able to sort it out.

 

Effie and Rowan would spend their free time in the library, reading up on spells relevant to their first year curriculum or in dueling. Whatever books they had checked out, they’d trudge along to the edge of the Forbidden Forest and practice the spells there in secret. Effie would insist on learning a few jinxs, much to Rowan’s dismay. The former would reason that they were useful should Merula sneak up on them and try to perform any of her tricks, though she would occasionally entertain the idea of inventing a suffocating charm just for the girl.

 

When they weren’t learning new spells, they were hanging out with Ben Copper. The two witches found company with the Gryffindor, more out of desperation than anything if they were being honest. They would help him ease his fears about the lessons and show him that the magical world was not  _that_ scary. Still, Ben had trouble with flying class despite multiple classes, and he was severely lacking in progress. So one day, Effie decided to give the Gryffindor a private tutoring, with much grumbling to Rowan first.

 

The two were tucked away at the border of the Forbidden Forest, with no other student in sight. Ben was slightly shivering, having heard of the rules not to be near them and the dangers lurking inside. He was already contemplating to cancel the tutoring when Effie noticed his uneasiness.

 

“You alright, Ben?” Her voice sounded more soothing now, though she was irritated that they were off to a slow start.

 

“No, not really. I think someone’s bound to get hurt here, and that someone is me.” He let out a sigh and turned his gaze to the castle.

 

Effie sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Ben, you need to believe in yourself more. Part of learning is the mindset.”

 

“I suppose so. Even then, I still have a lot of concerns. What if we get caught here?”

 

Leaning closer, her lips were near his ear, a curtain of black hair falling over her shoulder. “We won’t get caught. You have to trust me for this lesson to work.” Her tone was more pushy this time, her patience quickly running out from the Gryffindor's pessimism.

 

Ben flinched at some point during the sentence, looking oddly at her, but regained his composure. By composure, it meant his usual jerky movements and nervous demeanour. The witch sighed as she noted that too. Confidence was another thing they needed to work on.

 

“Okay, I’ll try,” Ben said, his shaky voice sounding more firm.

 

The rest of the morning was well-spent with the witch levitating him off the ground. Higher and higher until he got used to the height he was at. He would usually stare at the ground with each new foot, sweat dripping off his forehead as he did so. But after a while came to pass, he would focus on his surroundings instead, and his nervousness would subside, slowly, but surely.

 

The highest they were able to reach was 20 feet before Ben was unable to focus at all and began hyperventilating. Effie lowered him and rushed to his side. His forehead looked more like a waterfall now and his head burning red all the way to the roots of his hair.

 

“Are you okay?” She rushed to his side. He looked so fragile at this state, so easily breakable that even Effie herself began to question if she pushed him too hard.

 

Ben turned away, taking a few more deep breaths until his breathing evened out. “I hope so. I’m not dead, aren’t I?” he cracked a smile at the last bit. “But - generally your exercise helped me out with not being so scared at flying.”

 

She smiled in relief at that, more subdued than earlier. “Maybe we could have taken it more slowly? You know, a few inches instead of a whole feet?”

 

He shrugged. “Maybe. Effie - I - just don’t let my attitude discourage you, okay? I really do appreciate it. This whole tutoring thing.”

 

The redness in his face had mostly subsided at this point, though now he was gripping his robes tightly.

 

Effie looked over at the far distance, mildly miffed that she even doubted her own tutoring plan. Just as Ben implied, it was his attitude, though that was understandable. She needed to be more patient with him, after all, a Muggleborn’s experience and perception of the wizarding world would be vastly different than hers.

 

“Okay. Next time, we’ll start off at 40 feet.”

 

Ben paled.

 

“Kidding! I’m kidding.”

 

Ben let out a relieved sigh, elbowing his friend as a smile crept up his face. The rest of the day was of no particular interest, it went all the same schedule as hanging out with Rowan, attending class, and all such other constants in her first year at Hogwarts. Though one curious morning, they were summoned by their prefect again. This time he instructed the two to meet at the field.

 

As Effie and Rowan walked along the grass, the former spoke up. “I wonder what he’s going to do to us this time?”

 

Rowan let out a hum before answering the question. “Maybe another shouting?” She mimicked the posture of her prefect, capturing his gestures and mannerisms perfectly. “Lost more house points? Again?!”

 

The two girls laughed before Effie turned her gaze to the scenery before her. In the far off distance, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team were practicing a few moves. The day was lovely for a stroll, the sun shining brightly and the clouds rolling by. A gust of wind blew and ruffled their hair. She admired the peacefulness of the moment before Rowan spoke up hesitantly. “Do you want to talk about what Merula said?”

 

Effie frowned. She had actually managed to go by a few days without thinking of him, yet the mere mention of him set off another uncomfortable burst of memories. Shoulders slumped, she suddenly found the grass much more interesting to look at. “You already know most of the story from the Daily Prophet…”

 

The newspaper had done quite a surprisingly good coverage of the incident, despite the reputation of said newspaper. She read the article itself, and most of the details written were quite factual and straight-forward. It included a clear timeline of events, interviews from both students and teachers about Jacob, and an unbiased account of his actions. The only detail no one was sure of was whether the vaults  _actually_ existed. Interviews with Hogwarts Faculty denied such existence of one, claiming it was another one of the legend surrounding the school.

 

“Being obsessed with the idea of cursed vaults inside the school, my brother went on a crazy hunt after them. He believed there were mysterious treasures inside.” Effie let out a sigh. “I wouldn’t know why he’d want to go after ‘mysterious treasures’ anyway.”

 

Rowan nodded. “And no one believed him.”

 

“Right. He broke all kinds of rules, and put people in danger while trying to prove he was right. Some people say he unleashed a curse on Hogwarts, Some say he was cursed himself. Everyone thought he was mad.” Her voice faltered as she neared the end of the sentence.

 

With a determined expression, Effie continued. “Merula is lying about him being involved with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. But, and I hate to admit it, she was right about one thing. He’s missing.”

 

Rowan looked thoughtful. “Yeah, that’s what the Daily Prophet reported. Right after he was expelled.”

 

The witch let out an uneasy sigh.

 

“Besides, Effie, I don’t think that you’re like your brother. Not like what other people say. I think you’re brilliant.”

 

That earned a chuckle from the girl. “Thanks, Rowan.”

 

At that moment, their Prefect came waltzing into the field, ever as calm and poised. He stood between the two girls, an air of authority radiating from him. “Thank you two for answering my message today.”

 

The two nodded and waited for him to continue.

 

“The reason I have called you is  regarding the Merula incident. Despite Khanna here reporting it to me, a Slytherin standing by also saw it happen, and did the same thing.”

 

For some reason, the knowledge of a Slytherin actually raising awareness of Merula’s poor treatment of them was heartwarming. Maybe the whole ‘house unity’ thing extended to her and Rowan too. The more pessimistic side of her mind spoke up, saying that they just reported the incident so the girls wouldn’t lose further house points. The even more pessimistic side of her mind fed her that their prefect was lying just to make them not feel like outcasts of their own house. 

 

“I wouldn’t be doing my job as Prefect if I didn’t help teach you defend yourselves.” he sighed. “Even if you insist fighting someone from your own house. I’m going to teach you two how to duel.” Felix turned away from them, and as much as he tried to hide it, disappointment briefly brushed his expression. Effie furrowed her eyebrows, a frown tugging the corners of her lips downward.

 

Something felt off when he said that, something that made her doubt the true intentions of this practice. Those words sorely reminded her that he was just doing this because it was his job. If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t care about them at all.

 

Rowan looked more contemplative. “Doesn’t this count as illegal dueling though? It’s breaking the rules.” Shrugging, she added in a cheeky tone, “We could lose house points.”

 

Their prefect never lost his composure, but he sent a sharp glare to Rowan, causing the girl to shut up. “It’s not as if anyone else needs to know, Khanna. But yes, it’s against the rules.”

 

So their prefect wasn’t a stickler for the rules? Effie filed away that information for future reference. She chimed in. “We may have learned some basics.”

 

Felix raised an eyebrow at her, scrutinizing her closely. “And how have you learned that?”

 

She felt her knees go weak at his scrutinizing. It felt uncomfortable, as if his own overpowering glare made you more conscious of yourself.  Rowan noticed her friend's discomfort and answered for her. “We have checked out some duelling books from the library. But not to worry! We practiced where no one could see us.”

 

His shoulders relaxed. “Good foresight. Now is a relevant time to let you know that Slytherin keeps a secret duelling book in the Artefact Room. It’ll teach you various spells, potions, and techniques.”

 

Rowan squinted, her forehead creasing as she pondered over this new information. “Why would Slytherin even have one?”

 

“From what I’ve heard, it’s tradition. Older Slytherin students impart knowledge on a book and leave it to help the younger ones. It’s part of the whole house unity theme.” Felix beamed as he said the last part. “Meet me again after you two have learned some more duelling spells, and I’ll teach everything you need to know.”

 

Effie spoke up, finally letting out her doubts. "Okay, but why are you helping us?"

 

Felix's head snapped to her. "Pardon?"

 

"Are you doing this because you truly care about us or it's just part of your job that you're so proud of? It just sounds like the latter."

 

Felix just let out a sigh. "Why does that bother you?"

 

It hadn't escape her notice how he deflected the question. She blinked repeatedly. "Nothing, just curious," she said blankly.

 

The cold air of their prefect seemed to have returned, and he nodded.

 

The two found the Artefact Room to be located in the corridor at the west lower floor. Effie was a bit queasy, remembering  the last time they were sent to a room by someone, but Rowan eased her fears, saying that their prefect was more trustworthy than some random letter handed out. Effie countered that maybe their prefect was doing this in hopes that they'd get caught duelling and get expelled. Rowan looked at her with a strange expression and asked why he would even do that. Effie remained silent.

 

The Artefact Room was a small, dingy space which, true to its name, held some interesting artefacts. There was a two-layer cabinet in one part of the room and a shelf at the other. Items were strewn about such as a blackboard with odd symbols drawn on it, scrolls, and (human?)skulls. A foul odor was also present in the room, much to the two’s dismay.

 

While searching, Effie heard a voice call out to her, initially believing it to be from Rowan, which she denied. No other incidents happened, and they managed to recover the duelling book. It was a old thing, the papers crumbling at the edges and browning. The cover was made from leather, and colored the same shade of green as the Slytherin house. A stylized ‘S’ was etched onto the front, along with the image of a snake.

 

They poured through it, but not before an image flashed inside Effie’s mind, regarding a walking suit of armour, a staircase shrouded in mist, and ice encasing Hogwarts. A voice accompanied said images, mentioning something about ice and vaults opening. She decided to share this with Rowan, the girl promptly saying that maybe they were the same things her brother saw.

 

The two brought back the book to their common room, reading up on spells, practicing them in secret, and resting in their dorms. Rowan brought up her concerns about Effie’s visions during dinner at the Great Hall, and the rest of the time was spent with her easing her friend’s worries. The conversation shifted to topic of her visions, and what they contained. Effie answered her friend’s questions as curt as possible, not wanting to dwell on it. Rowan respected her decision, and the topic shifted back to the duelling book. The bright witch found an interesting tidbit how Professor Flitwick was actually a champion dueller, and that maybe it was best they be taught by him.

 

“No, absolutely not,” Effie said with a twinge of dislike in her voice, taking a sip of her tea afterwards.

 

“What? Why?” Rowan leaned closer now, wondering at the harsh rejection of her suggestion. As far as she knew, the charms professor was a good teacher. He explained the concepts well enough that most of the class was able to accomplish the charm, and he was accommodating enough to answer any questions they might have had.

 

“Don’t you remember the encounter in Charms Class? He thinks I’m like my brother. Any attempt I do to ask him for duelling lessons will get me a firm  _no_.” Laying her arm on the table, Effie leaned closer too, lowering her voice to a whisper. “Also, how suspicious would it be for a ‘known’ troublemaker to ask for advanced duelling lessons?”

 

“But you’re not a troublemaker!”

 

“With all the gossip I’ve been overhearing, you’d think otherwise. And eventually that gossip reaches the professors too.”

 

“Gossip is just gossip, Effie. That doesn’t necessarily means it’s true. I think the professors would also have that discretion in mind.”

 

The girl shrugged. “I wouldn't know, the professors think I'm just Jacob 2.0 anyway. I wish people thought like you do about gossip, but then you have people that think every little story has a basis.”

 

“You have a point…” Rowan took a bite out of her sandwich. “I’ve been flipping through the book, and I found an especially helpful spell.”

 

“Expelliarmus?”

 

“Yup. That one. Only thing now is finding a place to learn it. Also, did you know? Some historians believe it was Merlin who invented the charm!” Rowan’s eyes sparkled as she blasted into the story of how the charm came to be, why he supposedly invented it, and key moments in history where it was used. Effie listened to her friend intently. The little history lesson provided a refreshing change of topic.

 

“- and that’s how the charm came to be.” Rowan seemed to snap out of a daze, aware of her surroundings once more. The Great Hall was less occupied than it was. “Oops. I got carried away, didn’t I?” Her face was tinged red.

 

“That’s fine. We still have tomorrow for us to practice.”

 

At potions class, they had to learn the Wiggenwald potion, a powerful healing potion. Merula had to sit at their table again, and did the usual routine of verbally harassing the two witches. Snape was acting like his usual self, unhelpful and snarky. Everytime Effie would ask a question, he would deflect it. She had to depend on observing Snape’s technique, deducing why he used that, and replicating it in her potion. At the end of class, he told her that her potion was passable, but Merula’s was flawless.

 

“What can I do to get better at potions then, Professor?” Effie gripped the edge of the table, turning her head to meet her Professor’s ambivalent expression. She bit down a remark about how he was definitely being a fair, not biased, professor.

 

“Can you suddenly become someone who isn’t incompetent, Bernard? That would be an excellent start.”

 

Chewing the inside of her cheek, thoughts lined up on how she should approach this. Was there anything she could say to put her in a positive light? Bracing herself, she said, “I’ll never match your skill and knowledge, but I’m hoping to at least become a middling student by copying a true Potions Master like you.” It killed her to have to suck up to the vile professor, but Effie tampered down her ego in favor of getting on his good side.

 

The slightest change in Snape’s expression happened. Could he actually look pleased? “I appreciate your determination in spite of being a hopeless failure. Ten points to Slytherin.”

 

So far, that was the best session of potions class for her.

 

Whenever they can, Effie and Rowan would practice at the Training Grounds, away from prying eyes that might report them. It was here that the two girls would get better at spells each day, duelling each other until someone had their wands shot out of their hand. Diagrams riddled the floor, showing the proper wand movement and incantation.

 

Eventually when they felt like they were good enough, the two met up with their prefect in the courtyard.

 

“You two are finally back. So what spell did you learn?” He avoided Effie's gaze.

 

Rowan began listing off the spells they learned. “First, we learned the tickling charm, Rictusempra, seeing as it’s a very good distraction spell, then there’s the jelly leg jinx, so we can further distract them! And by the time they’re so distracted they won’t know what hit them, we hit ‘em with an Expelliarmus-”

 

“Okay, Khanna. The overly long explanation wasn’t needed, but thank you anyway.” Rowan, a bit deflated, kept silent and nodded.

 

Effie chimed in. “We learned the most basic of spells. Anything too advanced might rouse the suspicion of teachers.”

 

Felix barely nodded, a gesture of mild acknowledgement. “Good thinking. Wouldn’t want you to cast a full-body bind and have everybody wondering where you learned that.”

 

Smoothing his robes, he looked between the two. “Now, I’m assuming you two have dueled each other before as practice?” when the two nodded, he continued. “This time, you two will duel each other and give it all you got.”

 

“What if one of us gets hurt?”

 

“I don’t want to get hurt…” Rowan muttered. Her eyes landed on Effie for a moment before settling on the ground.

 

“I don’t want either of you to get hurt, but that’s part of the learning in a duel. Besides, I know some healing spells.” Making sure the two girls were more at ease now, he continued. “Now, let’s get started.”

 

The two girls were positioned a good distance from each other. Feet shoulder-width apart, and wands pointed at each other. Effie outstretched her wand first and muttered an incantation. A jet of silver light hit Rowan’s torso, and she wrapped an arm around herself, laughter erupting. She could barely focus, let alone move her wand, and Effie took this as an opportunity to cast the disarming charm. The wand flew out of Rowan’s grasp and landed on the ground behind her. With her opponent’s wand pointed at her, Rowan fell to the ground, still laughing as the charm affected her.

 

Eventually the charm subsided, and Rowan started gasping for air. Effie held her arm out, which her friend happily took, and hoisted her up.

 

“You okay, Rowan?”

 

“Yes, yes, I’m fine. Just, whew, that charm is intense.”

 

Their prefect looked as proud as he could be, nodding between the two and uncrossing his arms. “Well done. Now you’ll both be able to defend yourselves and properly represent Slytherin.”

 

News of Effie and Rowan’s training managed to reach the rest of the first years somehow, with the two of them wondering how it got spread. But the day came where those spells they learned were put to good use. It was at the courtyard where a  loud, too familiar voice was ringing throughout the area.

 

“What’s going on?” Effie whispered to Rowan.

 

“Merula is threatening Ben Copper. He keeps trying to walk away, but she won’t let him.”

 

Merula’s shrill voice rang throughout the area. “You’re an embarrassment to our year!”

 

Her wand was pointed towards Ben, who looked as if he was cornered prey. His eyes were wide and his gaze unfocused, switching between the wand tip and the witch. He was holding his breath in, and hands raised in surrender, or was it protection?

 

“Just leave me alone!”  His voice so shaky, but there was the tiniest hint of anger present.

 

“Disgusting Mudbloods like you shouldn’t even be allowed in Hogwarts.” The silence in the courtyard was so suffocating when she said that, no one wanted to speak up after she used that slur. Most faces were kept stone still, some had shock plastered on, while others in disgust and the tiniest few nodded in agreement. “Leave the magic to the  _real_ witches and wizards.”

 

A protective urge for the Muggleborn surged inside Effie. Walking between Ben and Merula, her fists clenched as she stared at the girl with a glare. Chin up and chest out, she indeed looked like the hero ready to save the damsel-in-distress. Ben gazed at her through blonde lashes with a curious look, slack-jawed.

 

“That’s enough, Snyde. Leave him alone.” Her voice never faltered, she said the line smoothly with all the confidence any first year would envy.

 

Merula lowered her wand, hand on her hip she let out an exasperated sigh. “You never learn, do you?”

 

“Why don’t you be more like your mad brother and go missing?”

 

“Why don’t you be more like your Death Eater parents and rot in Azkaban?” It was out of line, too far, that she knew. Her parents would be a sore topic for her, that she observed any time someone would mention the two to Merula. But she didn’t care if it dragged her down to Merula’s level, she got sick of Merula repeating that over and over.

 

Gasps rang out the crowd, someone placing a hand over their mouth and looking around in disbelief. No one had dared say that to her face before, for it was common knowledge that Merula Snyde’s parents were her weak spot. A series of emotions passed through Merula’s face before she fumed, her fist violently shaking as she whipped out her wand and pointed it at Effie. Going into a wider stance, she bared her teeth as she cast the Knockback Jinx.

 

A shot of blue light raced towards her, and Effie barely managed to get out of its way. She retaliated with the disarming charm. Merula, caught off-guard by her opponent’s dodge, was hit square in the chest by the scarlet light. Her wand was ripped out of her tight grip, and flew through the air until it landed on the ground a few miles away.

 

Merula was still shaking, her bared teeth now closed to a tight line and face flushing red. With her arms glued to her sides and fists balled up, she turned around and marched to her wand. No one said anything as she picked up her wand and breathed deeply, counting slowly from one to ten. Time seemed to stand still in that little courtyard, where students gathered around two Slytherins duelling each other, and all that matters is who would come out victorious.

 

Merula whipped around and shot a white light - not directed towards Effie but to Ben. He automatically raised his arm in defense, but a welt erupted where the light hit his bare flesh. Ben tumbled to the ground and grunted in pain, gripping his affected arm that increasingly felt tight and swollen. Tears stung the corner of his eyes.

 

Effie’s head whipped towards Merula. The girl was grinning now, eyebrows furrowed that made her even more maniacal looking. She began seeing red. How dare she drag her friend between a duel between them? Widening her stance, Effie’s expression turned predatory as she she lunged for the girl, the crowd, the environment blurring around them.

 

Fear flickered in Merula’s eyes for a second as a body collided with hers. Both girls crashed into the ground. Grabbing a fistful of Merula’s hair, Effie yanked it up as her other fist drove for the girl’s cheek. Merula’s head crashed  to the hard cobble ground, a stinging pain erupting from area of impact. Effie’s knees was digging at the ground near both sides of Merula, keeping the girl locked in place.

 

The onlookers roared in surprise. Some watched with horrified looks, some with amazed expressions, but all watched with a sick interest at what was happening. Everyone was silent except for the few that called for a professor and for some that made commentary(“This is just like one of my Muggle films!”).

 

Effie could feel her head being pushed away by Merula’s hands, but that didn’t stop the tirade of blind punches aimed to her opponent’s face. Everytime a hit landed, Merula would grunt. Everytime it didn’t, she felt the impact of her fist against the hard ground shoot pain up her limbs. A pair of warm hands hesitantly rested themselves on Effie’s shoulders. The girl paused and gazed at the corner of vision. It was Ben. One knee propped on the ground, he had a pleading look at her, despite cringing every time the stinging jinx would act up, switching between Merula’s bruised face and Effie.

 

Two professors stormed down the courtyard, heading for the crowd as they parted. Professor Snape and Flitwick stood there, the former looking positively murderous and the latter looked shocked at the scene before him.

 

Effie let go of Merula, the latter gasping for air as she felt her bruises throb. Red covered the girl’s face as one eye swelled up, and Flitwick could only gasp as he took in the non-magical injuries. Some blood leaked out from the sides of her mouth. Effie could only watch Merula lay on the floor, bloody and beat-up, as her own knuckles ached from the fight.

 

“You two. Dumbledore’s Office. Now,” Snape hissed out to Effie and Ben. He sent sharp glares at the crowd before they dispersed, Rowan remaining. Flitwick cast the levitation charm on Merula, and the girl was lifted off the ground.

 

Effie hung her head as she headed for the Headmaster’s office, with a worried Ben and Rowan in tow.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> admittedly i love writing scenes about FIGHTING


	5. It Wasn't a Trial but It Felt Like One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with the consequences of your actions sure was mentally exhausting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited Chapters 1-4. Nothing major about them had changed, and you don't need to backread incase you'll miss important plot points. Changed a few personality traits and edited a few sentences. I just edited them 'cause the perfectionist in me screamed at how shit those chapters were lol

If there was something akin to a bright side in her current situation, it was Snape’s thundering presence. Students lingering in the hallway wisely chose to stay away as soon as they caught sight of the potions master leading a band of what they correctly assumed were troublemaking students. No one would dare remain in his proximity, for no one wanted to risk getting detention or having house points taken away. A few students backed away, including a group of Gryffindors, Ravenclaw, and a blonde Hufflepuff.

 

The only downside was the looming silence all the way to Dumbledore’s office. With every footstep of Snape echoing throughout the hallways, it felt more and more like they were being led to a trial in Wizengamot. Ben did not dare make a sound, no matter how much the hex Merula casted on him stung. Rowan refused to look anyone in the eye, instead focusing more on the wooden floorboards, as if they were much more interesting. Effie trudged on, head held high, but even the pounding of her heart or the clamminess of her aching hands gave her away.

 

They were located at a corridor now, one unfamiliar to them and at any moment they could be entering Dumbledore’s office. Snape abruptly stopped at gargoyle, and the three did so as well. The gargoyle resembled a griffin, made out of gold with its wings stretched out and curving inwards. Its expression resembled the beast in the middle of a screech, and its gaze seemed to bore right into them.

 

Snape muttered, “Pumpkin Pasties.”

 

The gargoyle rotated, moving upwards as it did so. A circular staircase revealed itself, leading to which Effie guessed was the Headmaster’s office.

 

So this was it.

 

How strict was Dumbledore again? Most of the people in the castle said he was an eccentric fellow, but a select few whispered that if you messed with him, your time at Hogwarts may very well be compared to Azkaban. Effie was pretty sure they were just exaggerating, considering that the Headmaster seemed to be pleasant enough during the Start-of-Term Feast. But one could never be sure, this was the wizard after all who defeated Grindelwald.

 

Looking back to her friends, she could see the two staring at the entrance, fear reflecting in their eyes, more so in Ben’s. Rowan looked on with a mix of curiosity and distress.

 

Snape placed a foot on the first step. The three remained rooted to the spot. With a sigh, he only said, “Are you all so lacking in initiative that you have to wait for my signal? Guess that courage disappeared in the fight.”

 

No one replied. Snape continued to walk up the stairs as the three stared at each other. Tentatively, Effie moved forward and started climbing the stairs. The two followed suit. Up the winding staircase until they reached the very top, the Headmaster’s Tower. The room they had found themselves to be in was breath-taking, and the three of them forgot their feeling of anxiety for a moment to gawk at the room. The circular room held many windows and many portraits of various wizards and witches from different eras. Cabinets and tables littered the area, and on top were silver instruments that occasionally puffed out smoke. Shelves covered the whole walls and were filled to the brim with books not even found in the library. Two staircases located at either side led to a platform that held some sort of star-gazing tool. A beautiful chandelier above shone down on a coat hanger holding the Sorting Hat, and a desk, where the Headmaster himself lay. To the right of him was the Deputy Headmistress, Professor McGonagall, whose hands were clasped together.

 

Ben swallowed as his eyes darted between the two professors as a bead of sweat formed at his forehead, gingerly twisting his hexed arm. Rowan was practically salivating at the whole sight of the room.

 

“Ah, right on time, Severus.” Dumbledore’s eyes was twinkling, a smile present on his face. Picking up something from a crystal bowl, he held it up. “Lemon drop?”

 

“Not needed,” Snape said irritably. “These two-“ He turned around and abruptly stopped mid-sentence when his eyes landed on Rowan. “I don’t recall asking you to come.”

 

“Um, um.” Rowan twiddled her thumbs, gaze shifting side to side. Whole body hunched, she managed to sputter, “I’m here t-to give an account of what happened.”

 

Snape’s eyes remained hardened. “That is still disobeying orders. Ten-“

 

“Now, now,” Dumbledore said, cutting him off, to which Snape glared at him. “The girl showed bravery in coming here. She’s also provided an adequate reason to stay.”

 

Rowan flushed red, letting out a sigh of relief.

 

Leaning back on his chair, he continued. “Care to explain what happened?”

 

“P-permission to speak, Headmaster?”

 

He gave off a hearty chuckle. “Yes, Ms. Khanna, permission to speak.”

 

“Me and Effie, no wait, Effie and I, sorry wrong grammar, was heading off to the courtyard, where we saw a bunch of students surrounding something, or rather, someone. It turned out to be Merula, who was harassing… Ben for being Muggleborn. That’s when Effie stepped in and told her to stop. She didn’t listen. The two girls just talked until Merula pulled out her wand and shot a spell at Effie. Effie managed to dodge it and only used the disarming charm. Merula was furious and picked up her wand, and everyone was expecting her to shoot another spell. She did, but this time it was directed towards Ben. He was hit with something that caused his skin to sting.” Rowan spoke as if she had been practicing the story in her head over and over. Her delivery was decent enough, but it needed to sound more natural, and the pacing more practiced. At some parts she rushed through the account, at some parts she slowed down, which gave the emphasis on wrong parts.

 

McGonagall’s eyes widened, her head snapping to Ben. Eyes narrowing in on his arm, she found the affected area. Ben was barely holding back a whimper at this point. “Mr. Copper! You were not directed to the Hospital Wing immediately?” Fury was in her voice, most likely from Ben’s injuries not being treated properly.

 

“I was too afraid to speak up, Professor.” Ben was still grasping his arm, but was slowly covering it with his sleeve.

 

Turning even more furious, her head shot to Snape. “Why didn’t you send him to the Hospital Wing?”

 

Snape lazily drawled, “I hadn’t noticed. My priority was stopping a student from getting beaten up and possibly sustaining _more_ serious injuries.” His gaze was on Effie.

 

McGonagall sighed. “Ben Copper, you have my permission to go to the Hospital Wing to have it treated.” Her expression, which now held irritation, was facing Snape.

 

Ben shook his head. “Thank you Professor, but I’m here to defend my friend after she stood up for me. I’ll go if the pain becomes too much.” Effie shot her friend a look between respect and concern.

 

The Deputy Headmistress’s eyes softened. “Very well then.”

 

Clapping his hands together, Dumbledore spoke up, “Back to the matter at hand. Could you please elaborate on how the two girls jumped from talking to fighting?”

 

Effie could feel the blood drain from her face.

 

“Well,” Rowan shut her eyes and bit her lower lip, as if she was deep in concentration. “Merula shot an insult to her, which Effie answered with, uh, something about Merula’s parents? Everyone was shocked at that. That only angered her, and made her take out her wand.” Rowan was practically sweating a storm, her words starting to stutter.

 

Effie internally sighed, now what was said only brought attention to her jab at Merula’s parents, putting her in a much more negative light than intended. The whole situation wasn’t working out in their favor at this rate. Rowan should have rephrased the sentence to make it as if Merula was angry at having her insult deflected, and that’s what caused her to take out her wand. It was vague, but at the same time technically true. Rephrasing the wording to fit their narrative was a very handy tactic after all.

 

“Hold on. So Bernard insulted Snyde about her parents, and that’s what set her off.” Snape furrowed his brows. “No wonder then. You were provoking her with what you knew was a sensitive topic to her. You started this.”

 

Drat. Effie felt like her playing cards got exposed. Oh, well. The best way to perform damage control here was to act like an enraged kid who had been wronged too.

 

“I started this?! Let’s not forget other people have done the same to me!” Effie almost shouted, balling up her fists to add to the effect. Fists shaking she pointed a finger to Snape. “Everyone would always mention my brother, compare me to him, alienate me because, apparently, I’m like him! No one had ever thought that maybe, it was a restricted topic to me? That maybe I don’t like being constantly reminded of my brother who ran away and I don’t even know whether he’s safe or not?”

 

She took in a deep breath. Lowering her arm, her gaze was firmly directed to Snape. “It’s not okay to talk to Merula about her parents, a sensitive topic. But it’s okay to talk to Effie about her brother, a sensitive topic. It’s okay for Merula to insult me and my brother over, and over, and over, but Merlin forbid you mention her parents _one time_. It wasn’t enough for you to have a favoritism for Slytherin, you had to have favoritism for some students _in_ the house too.”

 

Snape had practically gone red in the face, looking positively murderous. No surprise if he whipped out his wand and cursed her on the spot. On the other hand, Effie had to pat herself on the back for that convincing performance. She had partially believed what she had said to be right, adding to the effectiveness of the outburst overall. If the other professors thought her childish and explosive because of that vent, so be it. It had achieved its purpose, which was to distract from Effie’s jab at Merula’s parents.

 

McGonagall put a hand over her mouth, shocked at the witch’s outburst, while Dumbledore had calmly watched. Adjusting his half-moon spectacles, he said, “Ms. Bernard’s  outburst is understandable, but we are detracting from the main point here. Severus, what’s this about getting ‘beaten up’ and ‘more serious injuries’?”

 

Snake had to take a deep breath first before he could answer. Until he felt that the anger was mostly drained from his system. “The main fight. The student who rushed to me only said that two Slytherins were fighting, _physically_. And Bernard was the one who lunged first. She left Snyde with major injuries on the face.” Snape’s expression soured, as if he was recalling the injuries himself. “For that, I suggest expulsion.”

 

“Hold up!” A voice cut through the room. Everyone’s heads turned to Ben. Immediately, his throat felt dry and his fists tightly scrunched up the fabric of his robes. It was as if those eyes staring at him were boring directly into his soul. His heart was ready to rip out of his chest, pounding so hard that his ears were deafened. Everyone was expecting an answer. But those stares made his mind go blank and at any time they would become angry at his lack of an answer.

 

Then, at the corner of his vision, he could see Effie. Her gaze didn’t look as if it was going to bore into his soul, it looked… gentle surprisingly.  It looked as if it was those bright blue eyes were twinkling instead. She actually looked worried about him, eyebrows raised in concern. Her mouth was moving, forming the words, ‘You can do it.’ Then they formed a smile, a smile that lit up her entire face. It was such a contrast to her barely-controlled outburst moments ago.

 

Ben swallowed. Taking in a deep breath, clearing his mind, and straightening his posture, he began. “She only did it in defense of me, sir. When Merula shot that hex at me, Effie wasn’t expecting her to drag me to a duel that was supposed to be between the two of them. She was surprised, and I supposed that set her off. I stopped Effie from beating up, Merula too, and her face injuries didn’t look permanent. A trip to the Hospital Wing would get them healed.”

 

“Do I have to remind everyone that a reason does not justify an action?” Snape furrowed his brows at the boy.

 

“But then, that goes for Merula’s past actions too!” Rowan countered, boldly meeting Snape’s glare. “She can’t just bully students for the reason of imposing her will at us, or as a coping mechanism that her parents are in Azkaban!” She suddenly turned her head away, her voice lowering to a strained whisper. “I was _one_ of her many victims. She started picking on me at the Hogwarts Express.” Her rant sounded sincere, and it probably was. There were no awkward pauses or rushed pacing, just pure, raw emotion, resentment towards the girl who bullied her.

 

A silence choked the room. The sound of whirring from Dumbledore’s silver instruments were the only things that can be heard.

 

“While Severus is right, we must also factor in Miss Snyde’s past actions that led to the current event. Miss Bernard’s actions are also held accountable. While it’s true that she defended her friend, she has also scarred her fellow first year.” Dumbledore pushed up his spectacles.

 

“She also fought in the corridor and made a mess of my classroom.” Snape grumbled.

 

Effie furrowed her brows. “I didn’t fight in the corridor. I saw Merula harassing Rowan so I stepped in to stop.”

 

He only rolled his eyes. In a spiteful tone he said, “Ah, yes. Effie Bernard. Our new – _hero_.”

 

McGonagall nodded. “Going back to the duel, I also want to check the credibility of Mr. Copper and Ms. Khanna’s accounts. Ms. Bernard, your wand.” She stretched her arm towards Effie, palm open.

 

Effie fished her wand out of her robe pockets. She began stepping forward, towards Dumbledore’s desk as everyone watched. The Headmaster looked on in amusement and the Deputy Headmistress’s expression remained neutral. She brushed her thumb over it before handing it to her. McGonagall took out her own wand, tapping the tip on Effie’s wand as she muttered, “Prior Incantato.”

 

The ebony wand gave off a scarlet light. It remained glowing for a few seconds before it returned to its original state. McGonagall, seemingly satisfied, handed it back to her. “It’s true. Her last spell used was the disarming charm.”

 

Effie walked back to her original spot as Snape protested. “Copper and Khanna are Bernard’s friends. Surely their accounts would distort the story to make her look good, and thus, are unreliable.”

 

Effie wanted to drive her fist into Snape’s mouth because he was just so _spot-on_ with that.

 

McGonagall nodded. “He does have a point, and it’s very possible. I suggest we bring a witness of the fight, preferably someone not from Slytherin and someone who is not friends with either Bernard or Snyde.”

 

“Professor McGonagall, is it okay if I request that you include in that criteria someone who is neutral about my brother? I think that with my brother’s reputation, people are more likely to let those judgments they have about him color how they view me, leading them to not give an objective and unbiased analysis of my actions.” Effie took a deep breath and continued on. “And if possible, that you be the one to pick the witness? People said you’re one of the most fair professors.”

 

McGonagall nodded. “Yes. Those requests are reasonable enough. I’ll ask Flitwick for the list of students who saw the fight and pick a few.”

 

Dumbledore nodded. “Then once we have gathered enough account of the event, we’ll form the course of actions we’ll take. Oh yes, Minerva, also talk to Ms. Snyde. She’ll have her own account of the event.” Turning to Snape and the three students, he continued. “Dismissed for now. You’ll be called here once a decision has been made.”

 

He leaned back on his chair and ate a lemon drop, ignoring their existence altogether. Snape looked absolutely livid. He quickly left the office before anyone, followed by McGonagall. The remaining trio looked at each other, as if they had crawled out a Wizengamot trial _intact_. They went down the stairs, through the corridor, and back to the regular hallways.

 

“Merlin, that was mentally exhausting!” Effie sighed in relief. Turned out that having to deal with people babbling on with their wild conspiracy theories about Jacob had its perks too. That was where she learned how to feign emotions and control the flow of conversation. She had used that skill to redeem at least some of the reputation of her family and leave people with a more neutral opinion about her brother, rather than think he was an insane Death Eater.

 

Rowan looked more weary. Her head low and the corner of her lips tugged into a frown, she had looked more drained and tired, as if she had run a marathon. Shoving her hands in her robe pockets, a sigh escaped her lips.

 

“Hey, Rowan. You alright mate?” This behavior had not gone unnoticed by Effie.

 

“Peachy keen,” Rowan muttered, the end of the sentence barely audible.

 

Deciding that maybe her friend just needed time to brood, and still quite unsure of the reason behind it, Effie turned to Ben.

 

“You were terrific there, Ben! You should’ve saw Snape’s irritated face when you said that.” An uncontrolled grin made its way to her face. “I knew you had it in you.”

 

Ben nodded at her words, still gripping his stinging arm, while Rowan flinched. The pain in his arm hadn’t fully subsided, but he dealt with much worse. Seeing the encouragement of his friend back then made the pain all worth it, well, not completely, but he wouldn’t miss that glowing expression for the world. Affording himself a smug smile for once, he answered, “I - I knew I had it in me too.”

 

He didn’t sound completely sure, but one day he hoped to be.

 

 


	6. The Aftereffects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She really should have been more prepared for the aftereffects of the duel.

She almost forgot that Merula was in the Hospital Wing if it wasn’t for the presence of her bruised body there. Laying on a white bed, her body was partially hidden by a curtain, leaving only the lower body to be seen. A woman in red robes and white apron had her back turned to them as she feverishly attended to beat-up girl, her brown hair quite messy despite being put in a bun. She was holding a glass bottle that held a blue ointment – Burning Bitterroot balm by the looks of it, a well-known pain relief medication. Most likely, Madam Pomfrey was rubbing it on Merula’s face, mumbling as she did so. Effie could only gather snippets of what they were saying.

 

“ - Never seen anything so brutish in my career so far. You poor thing.”

 

“I’m not a poor thing.” The voice sounded so weak, cracked and throaty. It did not sound like it came from Merula Snyde, overconfident Slytherin witch, at all. All the more hard to hear when her words were accompanied by a jerk of her legs and a pitiful whimper.

 

Effie felt a sudden surge of guilt overcome her. Sometimes it was hard to forget that she was a young girl too, but the distinction was crystal clear between Merula, the girl who spouted harsh insults and endangered your life, and Merula, the girl who was separated from her parents and was raised to believe in pureblood ideology. Now, she was seeing her, guard let down and showing how much she suffered from those injuries. Effie was thankful she couldn’t even see her face right now.

 

She had seemed to lost her nerve in approaching Madam Pomfrey. Looking back to Ben and Rowan, she whispered, “I’m at a total loss here. Could, uh, one of you approach her instead? Preferably you, Ben.”

 

Rowan looked on with mild interest. Ben nodded before he tentatively approached Madam Pomfrey. At that moment, it seemed like all the confidence he showed before was zapped away. His fists began to shake, eyes occasionally wandering to Merula’s form, and words seemed to have been beyond his grasp. Until finally, he squeaked out, “Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey?”

 

The matron turned around, eyebrows knitted together and sweat pouring down her temples. Her intense gaze froze Ben on the spot. “I – I was sent here. My arm,” he showed his hexed arm to her, the red sting ever present. “Stings.”

 

Her expression relaxed, and she jerked her chin to an empty bed. “I’ll get to you after I finish with her first,” she said in a much softer voice.

 

Ben nodded and approached the bed, throwing one last glance to his two friends. The two witches waved goodbye at him and left the Hospital Wing after that, with a much heavier feeling in their chests, for some unknown reason. They handled the situation with Dumbledore earlier quite well and Ben would never be bullied again, so what was it with this silly feeling? Perhaps it was the certainty that nothing would be the same after this, that they have thrown things off-course. Yes, perhaps that was it. So with this in mind, Effie turned to her friend as they walked along an empty hallway, determined to know what her friend thought how much different things would be

 

“How much do you think will change after this?”

 

Rowan blinked, pushing her glasses up. “A lot. For you, for her, and for other students. And I suppose for me too, due to… association.”

 

But before she could expand her answer, a feminine voice cut through their conversation. “Hello, nice to finally meet you Effie and Rowan.”

 

Both girls whipped around to the source of the voice. A beautiful girl stood there, her long blonde hair braided into two thick portions, with a smaller braid on her left side looped around to form a ponytail and the remaining hair left  to cascade down her back. Sparkling blue eyes and charming grin paired with yellow-lined robes, she could only be Penny Haywood, the most popular girl in their year. Effie suddenly felt conscious in the girl’s gaze. Her presence drew people in like moths to a flame, a dangerous and highly useful characteristic to possess. Not even Rowan can resist her charms, for she brushed away the messy strands of hair falling in her face out of self-consciousness. So for this widely-loved girl to know them, well, it came as quite a surprise.

 

“You know who we are?” Effie asked, blinking back. In hindsight, this was a stupid question considering the duel with Merula earlier. Everyone must have knew them by now.

 

Penny grinned, accompanied by a slight chuckle. Merlin, even her _chuckle_ sounded beautiful. “Does that surprise you?”

 

“Kind of? You’re Penny Haywood, after all.”

 

“Well it shouldn’t be surprising. Everyone is talking about how you knocked down Merula a peg.” Biting her lower lip, she continued. “Not to mention all the rumors surrounding your brother.”

 

Effie’s features shifted to something akin to distress and sadness. Rowan must have noticed this, for her tone was much more defensive when she jumped in the conversation. “Did you want something?”

 

Penny only grinned. “I wanted to thank you two,” she said, emphasizing the last word. Whether she noticed Rowan’s defensiveness or not was quite a mystery. “Hogwarts is supposed to be fun, but Merula was making it miserable for everyone. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her robes, she slowly added, “Though your method was quite brutal. At least Ben Copper won’t be bullied anymore.”

 

Effie shrugged, calming down from her initial shock, though she internally winced at the mention of Merula. “Someone had to do something. Yea, it was quite severe, but I just hope that makes her stop.”

 

“Fair enough. I hope you don’t get punished too harshly. Let me know if I can ever help you with anything. I know the gossip around Hogwarts and I’m pretty good with potions.”

 

“Actually,” Effie placed a hand on one of her pockets, feeling the forged letter underneath. “There is something you could help me with.”

 

Could she even trust Penny for the job though, that she wouldn’t turn this scheme around and stab her in the back instead? Penny was sweet - or so she’d heard from overheard conversations - and always lend a helping hand if she could. Effie’s intuition hadn’t gotten faulty on her anyway. She went with her instincts and trusted Rowan, and no regrets with that decision came up so far. Hopefully it’d be the same with Penny Haywood. Besides, she already blurted out that she needed help, there was no going back now.

 

Pulling out the letter, she held it in front of Penny’s face, and to Rowan’s shocked one. “I need proof that Merula wrote this. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not framing her, she actually wrote this. She posed as Snape and told us we could get our house points back if we went to a Potions Storeroom and get some pickled slugs. It was dark when we went in and the door locked behind us. Turns out it was a room full of Devil’s Snare, and she endangered our lives with this little stunt.”

 

Penny raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t you confirm the letter to Snape first, or even just shine a light in the room before stepping in?”

 

Effie and Rowan flushed red. Those weren’t their brightest moments, but to be fair, their prefect did rush them into doing the task, though anything after that was on their own conscience. Or maybe they didn’t just wanted to admit that they hadn’t been so smart back there, but that would mean admitting they had made a _mistake_. What a horrifying thought. They were Slytherins, and Slytherins didn’t make errors in judgments, they planned ahead and saw ahead.

 

“Um. Technical difficulties,” Rowan muttered, turning her head away.

 

“Yea, yea, that,” Effie backed up, rolling her eyes and huffing.

 

A loud, good-natured laugh erupted from the Hufflepuff. She pretended to wipe away non-existent tears at the corners of her eyes before finally settling down. She patted the two girls on the backs, saying in a soothing tone, “It’s okay, everyone makes mistakes.”

 

A mistake that almost cost their lives, but they could appreciate the sentiment.

 

Her gesture felt oddly comforting, and the two girls could feel their embarrassment gradually fade away. “Right. Thanks,” Effie mumbled.

 

Smiling warmly and nodding her head, Penny eyed the letter with caution. “You do realize you could potentially get her expelled for that though?”

 

“I know, but,” the image of Merula’s bruised body in the Hospital Wing flashed before her eyes. “It’s just for blackmail material. I don’t forgive her for almost killing me, but I don’t think I can stoop to her level. I’m not going to – to _ruin_ her life.”

 

That seemed to have won Penny’s approval. “I’ll get onto the task. When do you need the proof by then?”

 

“In around a week? I think that’s when Dumbledore and McGonagall will call me there.”

 

Nodding, Penny’s eyes began to twinkle in interest. “Speaking of which, what happened in the office anyway?”

 

Effie hesitantly began retelling an account of the events. Rowan would drop comments here and there, but when it became clear that she was the better story teller after a few minutes, Effie handed her the reigns. Rowan recounted on the key moments with dizzying accuracy and flair. She’d do a few hand gestures, shake her head, even contort her face to an expression fitting for the moment. She seemed completely in the moment, lost in her own story. Penny hung on to her every word, entranced. Her eyes would widen during appropriate moments, or she’d gasp at something outlandish one of them had done, and sometimes she’d even make a few comments here and there, but her attention was completely focused on the details.  At the end of the retelling, Penny was invested in what would happen next.

 

The three girls then parted ways, Rowan looking much happier than a few hours ago. The two headed for their common room, where another surprise awaited them. Their prefect, ever calm in his composure, marched up to the two girls. A slight scowl crept up on his face, despite him appearing to restrain himself. His sharp glare was directed to Effie, which at this point, was no surprise at all.

 

“You,” he started, running a hand through his hair in frustration, mussing it up. “have been the worst troublemaker I’ve met so far. How does this always start with me approaching you for some silly thing you’ve done?” Letting out another sigh, he regained his composure moments later. “We need to talk. Alone.”

 

Rowan nodded. “I’ll be right over there,” she said, dragging out the second word as she pointed to a spot near the tall windows, “far away from you two when the inevitable explosion happens.”

 

Felix didn’t bother saying anything and turned around, storming to the exit. Effie followed after him, gathering her wits about her to prepare for the inevitable disaster. Admittedly, nervousness gnawed her at having to deal how this scenario would play out. She had never faced his full-blown wrath before.

 

He had dragged her all the way to the fourth floor, right to a balcony. Thick stone railing bordered the area, carved with some of the most intricate, beautiful designs of leaves and mythical creatures. Beyond the area was a view of the Great Lake in all of its glory, the sun shining down on its surface,  and the waters reflecting the sky above as if it was a highly polished mirror. Clouds lazily rolled along without a care in the world, and a light breeze swept through the area. Out of all the places he dragged her for a scolding, he just had to pick the most beautiful one. Perhaps he was planning to murder her here? Commit a vile act on such a beautiful area? Oh, the irony if that was the case.

 

“Okay, straight to the point. Why did you think beating up Merula Snyde was a good idea?” His barely controlled anger was seeping out from the tone of his voice. Back pressed against the railing, he crossed his arms and looked at her expectantly.

 

Effie crossed her arms. “She was bullying Ben!” A defensive tone seeped into the tone of her voice when she said that. Ben Copper, cowardly but bless his heart does he try, didn’t deserve that treatment. No Muggleborn did. “I had to do something.”

 

Felix shook his head, nostrils flaring. “If you were just going to duel her, fine. But you beat her up, in front of almost every first year. Must you pick the flashy route?”

 

“I lost control okay? It wasn’t easy seeing your own friend get hurt, Rosier.” She crossed over to the other side of the balcony, pressing her back against it and turning  to face him. Muttering something under her breath, she said, “Maybe she shouldn’t have bullied him in the first place.”

 

Felix breathed deeply. “Maybe you shouldn’t have provoked Merula with a sensitive topic you knew would get her to make the first move in the duel, lessening the consequences you’d receive when you’d point out that fact to the professors, but at the cost of you being viewed as an insensitive twat?”

 

Effie was more amazed by his lung capacity. Did that came with being a prefect or having a stick constantly up your arse?

 

She held in her breath. “That’s an unfair comparison. Merula is basically an insensitive twat to everyone, especially Muggleborns and non-Slytherins. She antagonizes them, and she’s not even subtle about that! I’d never bring myself to her level.”

 

He raised a dark eyebrow. “If so, you’ve already brought yourself down to her level. I had gotten the impression that you wanted to redeem yourself from being associated with your brother’s reputation, but here you are showing violent behavior that doesn’t endear you to the faculty or to your house at all.”

 

She could hear herself let out a shaky sigh. Her hands gripped her skirt, scrunching up the fabric. He was just so irritating, no matter how much his criticisms had substance to them. Her forehead wrinkled as her thoughts jumbled together to come up with a retort as best as she could. Alas, nothing came up.

 

He took in another deep breath, his voice suddenly taking on a less harsher tone. “Do you know what I overhear the professors say about you?”

 

“I couldn’t care less what they say, I can’t rely on them,” she said in a quiet voice. Her second statement was barely above a whisper.

 

Undeterred, he continued. “That your behavior could be the start of you going down the same path as your brother. Effie, you are brilliant. You earn the most house points for Slytherin and the professors say you’re a fast learner. It’d be a shame if you wasted your potential over this irresponsible behavior.”

 

Effie slowly blinked, raising her head. Across the balcony was Felix, looking as neutral as ever, but there was a slight variation to the expression now. A crinkle on his forehead, the slight downward tug of the corner of his lips.

 

A few minutes passed by in unremarkable silence. Felix’s crossed arms loosened, and he opted to place them inside the pockets of his robes instead. Effie eyed the Great Lake, intertwining her fingers as a million thoughts buzzed in her head before they settled into static. A single thought snapped in their place. Perhaps she should apologize to him over what she said days ago in dueling practice. Did it really matter what his reasons were as long as he helped them?

 

“I never really apologized for what I said to you.”

 

He seemed to snap out of his own trance, blinking at what she said. “What you said to me?”

 

“For questioning your help to me and Rowan back in dueling practice. You know, where I asked you whether you truly cared about us or whether it was part of your job. I’m sorry. My emotions got the better of me.”

 

Felix’s expression blanked. His eyes swept over to her downtrodden expression, the guilt and regret that actually showed in them. “I forgive you then. To be honest, you just took me by surprise. Controlling your emotions is one thing we need to work on. We’ll put that alongside your dueling lessons.”

 

Effie’s eyes widened, her mouth agape in disbelief. “You actually want to continue them?”

 

“Despite what happened, yes. I’ve heard about your duel with Merula. It’d be a shame to waste your dueling potential.”

 

She stroked her chin in mock thought. “Oh, was that your plan all along in dragging me here? Convince me to resume dueling practice so I can get into _more_ trouble? Very suspicious, Rosier. Bet you just want me gone to hog all the glory for yourself.”

 

He pointed to the lake. “If I wanted you gone I could’ve just pushed you over that railing,” he deadpanned. A small smirk crept up his lips. “There’s no witnesses here either.”

 

“Har har. You comedian.”

 

Shrugging, he continued, “Heard the giant squid loves to eat trouble-making first years.”

 

Effie rolled her eyes. “And I thought Slytherins weren’t supposed to admit anything. Especially their ‘cunning plans’.”

 

“My only plan is to win that House Cup, Bernard.”

 

 

 

She wisely knew that her encounter with Felix wouldn’t be the last time someone would interrogate her about the Merula situation. It took a full week before anyone stopped bringing it up, but during that week, she and Rowan had to endure a gaggle of first years – Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and not many Slytherins surprisingly -  that brought her an endless amount of questions about the fight. Some, amused, commented on the irony of the situation where a snake beat up a snake. Some were just plainly relieved that Merula had since dialed down on her torment, and some enthusiasts asked her if she could teach them fighting moves, despite Effie looking like ‘a flailing troll when she threw those punches’.

 

Rowan was slightly miffed at the newfound attention. It didn’t seem obvious at first, indeed, one who didn’t knew her that well wouldn’t notice the subtle changes in her behavior at all. But her own friend noticed. The way her forehead would wrinkle and her eyebrows would furrow more than usual. The way she’d glance at the students who approached Effie, then quickly redirect her attention back to whatever she was doing, or the way she’d flip the pages of her current book with more force. When Effie had brought it up with Rowan, she’d say it was due to the stress of having so much people approach them.

 

Aside from that, classes remained as they were. The teachers were more cautious with her around. Professor Flitwick was especially uneasy around her, and Effie recalled his shocked expression when he entered the courtyard with Snape. He still commented on her brilliance in charms, and gave out house points to her freely, but there was just something different about her and the charms professor. Something that can never be fully mended.

 

Snape was much more obvious. He singled her out in potions class, asking her a long string of questions, deducting points every time she had gotten an answer wrong. Any attempt to ask him a question – and Effie wonders why she even bothered trying in the first place – would be turned as an opportunity for Snape to diss her. Whatever ‘redeeming’ quality in his eyes that she was a Slytherin was negated the day she ragged on him in Dumbledore’s office. It took a lot of self-studying, sleepless nights, and help from Rowan to even catch up in Potions. Effie almost forgot to write a letter to her parents and her Muggle friend because of that, but managed to squeeze that into her schedule. The latest letter from her parents detailed the increasing amount of house break-ins in Hampshire, while from her Muggle friend asked for the details of her new school. She wrote back hoping her parents would stay stay safe. Writing to her Muggle friend was trickier, as she hadn’t known Effie was going to a magical school, so she tried to keep her letter as simple as possible.

 

But perhaps the oddest thing that affected her was the newfound chill in the Slytherin common room. If before there were a few people that acknowledged her, whether they be in the form of greetings or jabs, now no one had spoken a word with her or acknowledged her presence, besides Rowan and Rosier. She hadn’t bothered staying in the place for long, either heading straight for the dorms as soon as she got inside. What had once been a place of relaxation and familiarity, now felt like stepping in a venomous snake pit. They wouldn’t harm her as long as she wasn’t noticed by them.

 

At least she had something to look forward to, to get those troubles out of her head for now. The evidence from Penny that Merula wrote the letter, and the dueling practice with Felix. Speaking of the former, Effie and Rowan was already well on their way to meet up with the Hufflepuff.

 

She excitedly showed the evidence to them: a green quill. Taking in their confused faces, Penny launched into an explanation regarding it. As it turned out, that was the same quill Merula used to write the fake letter. Penny took the forged letter and tapped her wand over it. “Revelauctor.”

 

A bluish aura surrounded the letter and the quill. Penny glanced at the two of them, taking in their interested expressions. “If Merula was here, she’d be glowing blue too.”

 

Effie nodded. “So it shows who wrote something and what they used to write it with.”

 

When Penny nodded, Rowan chimed in. “That’s brilliant!” her eyes began twinkling. “It’s sounds like some espionage technique.”

 

“I know right? From what the fourth year said, this spell was developed during the… First Wizarding War.” Penny’s tone was careful when she said the last part. Her cautious tone was understandable, the war had just ended a few years ago after all.

 

Rowan’s eyes lit up. “I’ve heard the story! It was one of the spells the Order of the Phoenix created when passing notes to one another. They had to confirm whether the letters were actually written by their own members and not forged by Death Eaters to lure them into traps or feed them false information. This was the method they used before Dumbledore invented a way for Patronuses to speak.”

 

Effie cracked a grin. “How lucky he invented that spell for them. And for us.” Penny snorted at the last part.

 

Rowan excitedly turned to Penny. “Will you teach us that spell?”

 

Penny glanced between the two girls, who looked very much eager to learn, Rowan especially. A smile formed on her lips. “Well, how can I deny my two students?”

 

 

 

By the time they were asked to return to Dumbledore’s office, Effie felt a renewed vigor. With the letter in one pocket, and the green quill in another, she calmly stood before the presence of the Headmaster, the Deputy Headmistress, Snape, and Merula. Her fellow Slytherin was looking away from her, glare boring into one of the vials.

 

Dumbledore announced that, after thoroughly reviewing accounts from other students and examining the incident from many perspectives, the course of action taken would be community service. Beating up another student was considered a serious violation, one that normally considered expulsion. However, due to the circumstances surrounding the event and a particular account given by a key witness, the punishment was lowered than what was intended.

 

Effie would be tasked to Argus Filch. The caretaker will assign her duties as he sees fit, whether that be polishing trophies in the Trophy Room or cleaning up potion residue left in cauldrons. She would have to deal with that for a month, and a possible write-up to her parents about her behavior at school. Merula would have to answer to Snape, cleaning up the Potions Classroom after her last period. Faculty agreed that it would be best if Bernard and Snyde were to remain a good distance and not interact with each other.

 

A part of her expected Merula to speak up about how unfair Effie’s punishment was to be, and that she should be expelled, but the girl only remained silent. Not even disappointment or anger showed up on her face, only a blank expression that prevailed.

 

Effie didn’t know whether this was a cause for concern or an improvement.                     

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

 


End file.
